The Wickedy Truth
by Olivia Tannis Moure
Summary: If seen, the ancient body on the sofa would be a hard thing to explain…they were going to have to keep their wits about them. But damn if Piper didn’t forget everything and everybody when Leo was around. Note: Chapter 1 is actually 1 and 2.
1. Chapter 1

The Wickedy Truth

By: Anna Bertrand

_Something is wrong_, thought Phoebe. The three charmed ones were sitting beneath a red-umbrella on the patio of the new Café Benjamin having an early dinner. Phoebe had been thirty minutes late of course, and now the October sun was setting. It was her favorite time of the day, her favorite month, and she wished that she could just relax and enjoy the glow and her sisters' company…but there was that agitated feeling…and now a barely perceptible hum in her ears.

Prue and Piper didn't seem to notice as Piper was describing some new recipe she wanted to try at the restaurant.

Phoebe looked around at the other restaurant patrons but they were all engrossed in their individual conversations with no sign of anything amiss.

Phoebe opened her mouth and was just about to ask her sisters if they, too, were hearing the strange hum, but Prue suddenly leaned forward and said, "Oh, I won't be in until late tonight—got a date with Brody." She swirled her glass around and caught a small ice cube between her teeth and crunched it loudly.

"Brody?" Piper glanced sideways at Prue. "That new guy you've been talking about?"

"Wait. Wait. Who is Brody?" Phoebe asked.

"A guy in Public Relations at the museum. He asked me out for a drink after work."

"Oh?" Piper rested her chin in her palm. "So you're finally moving on from Andy? I can't say that I blame you; witches and cops probably don't make the best couples—no matter how much you want to be together. When do we get to meet this Brody guy?"

Prue smiled slyly. "If all goes well, soon. I promise."

Phoebe ignored the hum and turned her attention to the conversation at hand. Prue's date. Brody. Crush at work; she thought she'd caught all the main points. She looked at the black silk blouse, matching pants, and the black high-heeled boots that Prue was wearing. "Aren't you going to change before your date?"

Prue stopped swirling the ice in her glass and looked down into her lap. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Phoebe closed her eyes and shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing Prue." But an irresistible impulse took hold and she cupped her mouth and giggled. "It's just…you look like an uptight accountant…who's going out after-hours to talk business with a co-worker." Her giggling became louder. "You look like you could kill the poor guy with just the historic facts of a medieval sword."

Trying to stifle her own giggles, Piper straightened and stared at Phoebe. "Well, aren't you witty and blunt today—more blunt than usual." She then turned to Prue. "But, for what it's worth, I think what you're wearing is sleek and classic. Perfect for a first date. Besides, you can wait until the second date to show him your fun side."

Phoebe hic-upped. "Fun side?" Her sisters simultaneously turned to stare at her. But then Piper burst into laughter. "She's right about that, Prue. You do need to let go more."

"Me?" Prue asked incredulously. "What? Would you rather I act like Phoebe? Dress like her? She extends her negligees into her daywear! Oh, please." Prue brushed her bangs out of her eyes and then pointed at Piper. "And you, would it kill you to closet the jeans every once in a while? I mean, think about it, maybe Leo would actually ask you out if you didn't look so frumpy all the time."

Piper's mouth opened into a big O. "If Leo asks me out it won't be because I'm wearing a mini-skirt."

_Uh-oh_, Phoebe thought. _Something is definitely rotten_. She looked around again, searching the street and sidewalks, the shop windows, expecting to see the ominous face of a demon or warlock, but she saw nothing. Yet she was sure now that she and her sisters were being watched, perhaps even manipulated. They bickered and picked on one another, sure; but never in public.

Phoebe put her elbows on the table and leaned over. "Um, guys." But the insults just escalated between her sisters. People were beginning to stare. "Prue, Piper," she said sharply, "let's take it home."

Prue stopped mid-insult and turned her attention to Phoebe. "Home? I have to meet Brody in—"she raised her wrist watch, "twenty-five minutes."

"Home," Phoebe slowly pronunciated, widening her eyes.

Piper, still red in the face, nodded. "I think home would be best. Call Brody and claim whatever it is you claim when you break dates."

An indignant Prue glared. "After all I've been through with Andy, I believe I deserve a night out…" Then to Phoebe, "Are you having a premonition?"

Phoebe nodded. "A huge one. So big I can't believe you guys can't see it."

Piper reached for her handbag, took a few bills out and put them on the table. "Let's go..."

They stood up from the table. Prue was fishing in her own handbag. "It's my turn to pay…"

"No, it's been my turn the last couple of times," Phoebe admitted.

"I don't care. Come on," Piper said over her shoulder. She was already to the sidewalk before her sisters could gather themselves and leave the table.

Ten minutes later, the sisters were taking the porch steps of their rose-colored Victorian home. It was now dark; the streetlamps were buzzing on as they quickly unlocked the front door. Always they felt safer within these walls, in close proximity to the Book of Shadows and the spirits of their mother and grandmother who had passed on.

No one spoke as they walked through the house's foyer and then up the stairs to the attic. It was only when they'd lighted several candles and drawn a collective breath that they all began to speak at once.

"What's going on?" Prue asked.

"Is it a Warlock? Because I thought I smelled Warlock…" Piper said.

"It was strange, the way we all seemed to turn on each other…" Phoebe said, but then she realized that Prue and Piper had not seemed to notice.

Prue put a slim hand on her waist. "What are you taking about, Phoebe? I thought you had a premonition. We're home because we thought you had a premonition, remember?"

Phoebe laughed nervously. "You two were at each others throats at the restaurant—telling each other exactly what you thought…no matter how hurtful it was or how angry it made the other. I even caught myself doing it a couple of times. And we were in a public place. Does that not strike you as unusual?"

Piper and Prue looked at each other.

Piper shrugged her shoulders, "Shameful, I suppose."

"But I resent being ordered home to false pretenses," Prue admonished Phoebe. "I just can't believe this. I cancelled my first date since Andy and I split up because you thought it unusual that we were arguing?"

Phoebe heard the pain in Prue's voice, saw the way her sister's hand trembled as she ran it through her dark hair. "No. No. You have it wrong."

"Well you better explain yourself, missy," Piper told her.

Phoebe sighed. "Okay, I know. Tell me you love the outfit I'm wearing or you love my taste in clothes."

Both Prue and Piper were looking at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Go on, tell me," Phoebe said smugly.

Prue was shaking her head. "I've lost my patience for this nonsense."

"You can't say it," Phoebe told her, "because it is a lie."

Piper through her hands up in the air. "What?

"Try it, Piper. Tell us a lie. I bet you can't do it."

"Tell a lie?" Piper said. "You want me to tell a lie? You know, this makes no sense because you lied to get us to come home."

"No, I didn't," Phoebe said. "I didn't have a visual premonition, but I had a strange feeling and there was this odd humming in my ears…I can't believe you guys can't see what is right in front of your faces. Go on, tell me a lie. Any lie!" She was becoming irritated and anxious to make her point.

"Okay," Prue said. "I'll tell you a lie." She smiled vindictively. "This is the worst prank you've ever played on us—me in particular." But then she gasped.

"That was a lie?" Piper asked, confused.

"That was exactly what I was thinking, but I didn't mean to say it…" said Prue.

Phoebe nodded. "Your turn Piper." She opened her purse and took out a tube of pink lipstick, "tell me this lipstick is green."

Piper stared, her mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, and then finally she said, "its…pink."

"Do you believe me now?" Phoebe asked, returning the lipstick to her purse.

"We have to find out who or what is behind this," Piper said. But just then the hallway light flickered and went out, leaving only the candle light and long dark shadows along the attic walls.

"Oh, no," whispered Phoebe. Loss of electricity and supernatural activity seemed to go hand in hand in this house.

Prue went to the window that looked out over the street. "Looks like we're the only ones to lose electricity."

Dryly, Piper said, "Well isn't that a shocker?"

But Prue didn't reply. After a few seconds of silently leaning into the windowsill, she calmly asked her sisters to come over.

They looked over Prue's shoulder, following her gaze to the sidewalk below where a large figure stood in a grey hooded robe, all features hidden. It seemed to be looking up at them. The charmed ones leaned back, holding on to one another's arm. Prue was the first to lean over again, carefully. "He's still there."

Phoebe left her sisters at the window and went to the pedestal table where the Book of Shadows rested. She wiped the dust from the cover with her palm and then opened it, flipping the pages as she held the mental picture of the hooded figure in her mind. Suddenly the pages started turning themselves in a surge of flutters. Then, just as abruptly, the pages stopped.

Phoebe stared at the page. "Oh Crikes!"

Piper and Prue turned from the window.

"Guys," Phoebe told them, "I think we've got serious trouble this time."

xXx

The charmed ones' heads were bent over the Book of Shadows, each with a worried frown.

"Not very much information here," Prue sighed.

Piper tapped her heel against the wooden floor. "Gruesome picture," she said, tracing the red eyes with the tip of her fingernail. "So, they're called "The Aox". And apparently they come from another dimension and are very secretive. The Book of Shadows groups them into two categories: the benign, and the evil." Piper lifted her eyes from the book. "Do ya think we've got the evil type? Because I do."

"It's trying to make us angry at one another, maybe thinking it will turn us against each another, or weaken us," said Phoebe.

"But if they are so secretive," Prue mused, "why is it standing out there on the sidewalk in front of our house?"

Piper bit her lower lip. "What's worse is The Book of Shadows gives no instructions, no way to combat it. How do we vanquish it if we know hardly anything about it?"

Phoebe whispered, "Maybe we can't…"

"Of course we can," Prue said. "We've got the Power of Three." Yet she didn't sound very convincing.

"I can't see us fighting something that—" Piper was saying when suddenly she startled and pointed to the page where cursive handwriting was flowing by an invisible hand.

"It's Mother's handwriting!" Prue said, astonished. "Girls," she read aloud, "Leave the Aox alone. Protect yourself, but leave them alone."

"How do we protect ourselves?" Piper asked the empty air in front of her.

"Wait, there's more," Prue told her. "Root of a diseased Elm, a tail feather of a Raven…"

"It's a spell!" Phoebe rubbed her hands together. "Oh, thank God, we have a spell!"

"It's a grocery list, you mean," Piper grumbled. "We don't have any of this stuff in the house."

"Guess that means we make a trip to our favorite alchemist," Prue said.

"I'll go," Phoebe offered as she went to the window to peer below, "Since you paid for lunch. Oh, and by the way, Mr. Aox is gone."

Prue closed the Book of Shadows. "I don't know if that's good or bad. At least we knew where he was when he was hanging out down there."

"And we knew _when_ he was watching us…" Phoebe added.

But Piper just shook her head. "Something that powerful doesn't need to stand out on the sidewalk in front of our house to watch us—it was some kind of threat or warning. Or maybe he's just taunting us."

The hall light flickered and then came on.

"He must really be gone for now," Phoebe said, relieved.

Prue gazed about the attic, "For now."

"Yeah," Phoebe agreed. She turned to leave the attic but then turned back. "You know, Prue, I'm really sorry you missed your date. I hope you know I'd never hurt you on purpose…"

Prue squeezed her eyes shut. "I'll trust that, deep down. And I'm sorry for the things I said; they weren't very kind. We're just different, that's all. I mean, we're sisters, but we like different things and we live our lives differently."

"Like my wardrobe, you mean?" Phoebe grinned.

Prue laughed and turned her eyes to the floor in embarrassment. "Like your wardrobe," she nodded. "Although you do have a few things I like."

"Really? Like which ones?"

"Like the ones you take from my closet."

"Okey-dokey," Phoebe said, smiling and tucking her hands into her back pockets, "glad to clear that up." She nodded toward the attic door, "I'll go make our grocery run now. Oh, I guess I need the list."

Prue shook her head. "Wait until morning. I don't think any of us should go out tonight."

"In that case," said Piper, grinning impishly, "I'm going to take my frumpy jeans and go to bed. Good night, all." And she disappeared down the hall.

Phoebe jabbed her thumb in the air after her retreating sister. "She is _not_ frumpy. If she's frumpy, I wish that I were that frumpy."

"She's not frumpy," Prue agreed.

Phoebe turned, walked into the hall, and called out: "Did you hear that, Piper? We both said you aren't frumpy—and we cannot tell a lie."

xXx


	2. Chapter 3

The Wickedy Truth

By Anna Bertrand

Chapter 3

Phoebe was feeling the lack of sleep from the night before as she tugged the boxes into the kitchen. After going to bed after midnight, she had climbed from her bed at six without her usual good humor. Now, her sisters were smiling at her over their newspaper and offering her a cup of fresh-brewed coffee.

From the shelf she took her favorite mug with the caption: _Live Dangerously or Die Cowardly_ emblazed on the front, what she called "the witch creed", and filled it. "What are you two smiling about—is my shirt on backwards?"

"Nooo, you look gorgeous," Piper said. "It's just weird seeing you up and about before ten o'clock."

Phoebe smiled wide and ran her hand down the plaid mini-skirt she wore. "Do I really? Wait a minute…are we still under the truth curse?"

"As far as I know," Prue said, and lifted her mug. "Would you top me off while you have the coffee?"

Phoebe poured coffee into both their mugs and then slid onto a stool across from them as Piper reached over to one of the boxes. She tugged a black twisted root from the wrappings; white mold grew in irregular patches along its length.

Prue let the business section of the paper fall from her hand. "Gross. Just when I thought it couldn't get any creepier…"

"Oh, just wait until you get to the bottom of the box, in the plastic sandwich bag," said Phoebe. "I made Nelson put it in bottom so I wouldn't have to look at it again."

Piper fumbled in the box a little too anxiously. "Which ingredient is it you're talking about?"

Phoebe held her palms out. "I don't know. Don't care to know."

"Ugg, me either," Prue huffed.

"Witches' cuisine, you'll never make good witches unless you master it," Piper told them as she sorted through the items.

"The title is all yours," Prue said.

"Everything seems to be here," Piper said, looking up from the box. "Who wants to help?"

Both sisters jumped from their stool. "I have errands to run," said Prue, making a grab for her handbag.

"And I have to study. Those mid-terms are coming up," Phoebe said, backing out the kitchen door.

Phoebe heard Piper shout from the kitchen: _You'll never be good witches without it_!"

3

Phoebe woke with a start. A loud and furious _beep_ was sounding off from somewhere in the house; she could hear it over the earphones. She sat up, took the earbuds from her ears and listened. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs. Once in the hall, she was sure it was coming from downstairs and she took the steps two at a time, calling out, "Piper?"

"In the kitchen," Piper replied. "Had a little accident. Nothing horrible, or at least too horrible."

Phoebe burst through the kitchen door and stopped abruptly. Piper stood in front of the stove looking like a burnt matchstick, her hair greased and standing on end, black smudges on her face and arms. The black sludge spotted her white apron.

"Piper! What happened?"

"I don't know, I don't know. This is the hardest potion I've ever tried to make." The large pot was bubbling so she grabbed the lid and covered it. "I don't even know if I got it right." She looked as if she were close to tears. She stared at her arms and apron as if seeing the goop for the first time. "Oooh, I'm _wearing_ it. Can you please tell me why everything has a tendency to explode around me?"

Phoebe couldn't help but laugh; it was one of those bare-truth moments when just who they were backfired in their face, this time literally. "Oh, Honey, it's a strong potion—it has to be to protect us from the Aox."

"Yeah? Well I bet Mother never had anything explode in her face while she concocted it."

Phoebe grabbed a hand-towel from the countertop and began wiping the thick, sticky goop from Piper's face. "I wouldn't know about that. What's up with this stuff? It's like tar."

"My theory is we paint the Aox with the stuff and stick him to a train track."

"But it's a protection spell concoction thingy," Phoebe reminded her. "Wait a minute—we're not supposed to paint ourselves with it, are we? Or…Oh God, we're not going to have to eat it! Because I would just have to take my sloppy chances with Mr. Bugger-bear out there."

"Calm down, don't panic. I'm not eating it and I made it, so relax. Besides, I think we're supposed to paint our circle with it."

"A protection circle? It's going to have to be kinda big, isn't it? Do you have enough in that pot to go all the way around San Francisco? Because there's school, and your restaurant, and Prue's—"

"Phebes, we'll worry about the particulars later. I'm not even sure it is for a circle. I just don't know."

"Okay, okay." Phoebe noticed the goop was getting harder to remove. "You need to go jump in the shower before this stuff really dries on you and you _can't_ get it off."

Piper sighed. "Yeah." She walked stiffly toward the kitchen door. "Can you get the door for me? Thanks."

"Sure. Oh, and don't forget, sunset is in less than an hour. I wouldn't want to be in the shower when, if, he shows up…"

xXx


	3. Chapter 4

The Wickedy Truth

By: Anna Bertrand

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters nor do I profit monetarily from their use. I profit only in fun. --AB

4

xXx

The night edged forward. By seven o'clock it was completely dark outside the Halliwell manor and Prue still wasn't home, which caused Piper and Phoebe to pace the living room floor and watch the clock nonstop.

Exasperated, Piper said, "Errands. How long does it take to run a few errands? And why hasn't she called—at the very least she could have called." She looked at her wristwatch yet again, watching as the minute-hand floated around the dial. Finally Piper went and grabbed her handbag and keys off the table in the hall. "I can't do this anymore. I'm going to see if she went by work for some reason."

"On a Saturday?" Phoebe picked up her cell phone from the sofa cushion. "Hold on, let me call her one more time." Phoebe held the phone to her ear and counted the rings. _Pick up, pick up_, she whispered. But the ringing just went on until Prue's voicemail kicked on, and for at least the tenth time, Phoebe left a message: "It's us again—please call—we're worried about you." She hung up and started upstairs.

"Phebes?"

Phoebe stopped on the landing and turned around, "yeah?"

"Where are you going?"

"To get my coat."

Piper shook her head. "One of us needs to stay here in case Prue comes home, and I don't want to leave the potion unattended. It won't do us any good if The Aox destroys it."

Phoebe shifted uncomfortably. "Do you really think we should split up?" But foremost in Phoebe's mind was the fact that she'd be in the house, alone.

Piper sighed and shrugged. "We're without the power of three regardless."

But Phoebe couldn't get past the idea of being in the house by herself, and in her case, two was a lot better than one. "What if the electricity goes out again?" _No lights. Dark._ _Alone_. Phoebe shuddered.

"We've got candles, the protection potion, and you've got your cell phone. If anything strange happens, call me and I'll be home in a flash. You're in the best situation of all of us with the potion right here."

Phoebe smiled tightly. "You're right. I'll be fine."

Piper went to the door. "I'll call you soon, lock up after me," she said, closing the door behind her.

_I think I'm going to throw up_, Phoebe said aloud to the closed front door. She locked the door and stepped back. Already the silence of the house engulfed her. The steady tick-tock of the Grandfather clock in the foyer—which she'd never paid much attention to before—suddenly seemed out of place, as if counting down to doom. Phoebe went back into the living room to escape the sound, but found that she could still hear it in there, too. Tick-tock, tick-tock, following her from one room to the other. It was maddening.

_Music_, she thought, _I need music_. _Something soft—and happy_. She went to the media cabinet and searched the shelves, finally sliding out one of her favorite cds, the loose shelf rocking perilously. _Something else for Leo to fix_, she thought to herself. If she didn't know better she'd think Piper was setting out to break things just to get Leo over. Now to think on it, she didn't know better and maybe Piper was sabotaging a few things here and there. By now there was no doubt in Phoebe's mind, or heart, that her sister was headlong into a crush on their handyman. And, in recent occasions when Leo came over Phoebe had quietly observed their handyman watching Piper when she wasn't looking, a softening of his green eyes that could only mean one thing. Phoebe smiled to herself. The next few weeks were going to be beautiful to watch as the two danced around one another, stumbling into love.

She spun around and suddenly the disc and cover nearly slipped from her hands as she jolted—the Grandfather Clock was in the center of the foyer, its round face staring at her. And the steady tick-tock, tick-tock was as rhythmic as breathing.

Impossible. She squeezed her eyes closed and turned her head for a fraction of a second, but the ticking went on. And when she opened her eyes, preferring to see and know if she were indeed going mad, she gasped. For instead of the Grandfather clock staring at her, it was the hooded figure, The Aox, standing there where the clock had been not two seconds before. Only tonight he stood before her with hood drawn down, exposing the ancient folds of age. Every feature of his face was shriveled and gray. Except for the dull red of his two eyes. And he was standing between her and the potion.

Her heart racing, Phoebe thought that maybe she could get to the staircase and up to the Book of Shadows. But she had no idea how fast this thing moved. Different scenarios flashed through her mind. Her rasping breath filled her own ears and she wondered if he could hear it—if he knew how terrified she was as she contemplated the distance to the staircase.

But then, just as the wild impulse to dart came over her, he spoke in a voice so deep and slow, so tired sounding, that she hesitated, not knowing what to trust as he said, _No need for that, child. _

It seemed an age-old question, "What do you want?" but she asked it with only the slightest quiver in her voice. However the quivers in her legs she could not stop.

In that tired, tired voice that was almost a sigh, he said, _I'm here to warn you_. She's _coming_. _Danger for you—all three of you_.

xXx

(Note to Readers: The coming chapters will be longer than what they've been thus far. From now on, it may be easier to keep up with the word count rather than chapters because I'll be adding to these chapters as I go while the update page on won't show a change in number of chapters.)

---Anna


	4. Chapter 5

(Note to Readers: I've decided to split the chapters into "mini-chapters" such as 4.1, then 4.2, and so on, to suggest breaks. Thanks for sticking with me thru the madness. –Anna)

4.2

xXx

They sat at the kitchen table, Phoebe and the Aox.

His name, he told her, was O'zeph. And upon entering the kitchen O'zeph had fixed his red eyes on the large pot on the stove and wrinkled his nose.

Phoebe, trying to hide her embarrassment, quickly said, "I'll move that someplace else."

"No matter," he said, dismissing the pot with a wave of his bony hand. "It is only mildly disagreeable."

"But not repelling…"

"No," he said. "It is what your kind calls a 'psychological talisman'. It was given to humans in ancient times so that you would not feel so vulnerable to our presence. We are in essence only spiritual beings, manifesting a body to enter your world of solid matter."

Phoebe gazed at his shrunken, aged skin. "But why not manifest a younger body?"

There was a low rumble and O'zeph's robe fluttered; and although his face remained unchanged, Phoebe realized it was laughter. Her curiosity had somehow amused him.

"We are infinite beings, stretched throughout time. The body we inhabit for our purpose here, in your dimension, reflects our timelessness—there can be no other way, for this is the way I see myself."

By now Phoebe was fascinated. "But is it the way you feel? Do you _feel_ old?"

"Encased in human flesh, I suppose I do, but not like you think. To humans, old age means frailty and limitation. Not so with us, for there is no physical body to deteriorate; and this body I exist in right now is just as strong and supple as yours."

"Wow." Everything physical about O'zeph seemed withered, almost brittle. It was hard for her to imagine him standing up to a Judo chop.

Phoebe remembered the events of the previous evening. "Oh, and the truth curse we're under? You did that?"

"It is not a curse, but a symptom of my being here. We affect this world when we enter. My dimension has different laws than yours. For example, read your time there on your arm."

Phoebe stared blankly for a moment, not knowing what O'zeph was talking about. Then he reached over and tapped her wristwatch.

"Oh." She focused her attention on the black face of her watch. But it wasn't right; the time had practically slowed to a complete stop. "Sorry, evidently I need to replace the battery. It's still only a minute or two past seven."

There was that low rumble again from O'zeph and Phoebe smiled thinking that now she understood the joke. "Hey, did you stop my watch?"

But O'zeph just shook his head. "The time is correct."

"That can't be." She did a mental tally in her head. "You've been here at least fifteen or twenty minutes. According to my watch, Piper just now walked out the door."

"Another affect of my dimension and yours colliding. Or, perhaps a better way to explain it is, my time and the way I experience it, has collided with your time and the way you experience it."

"And the Grandfather clock? Was that just another affect?—because it scared the crap out of me."

"Your Master-clock was the first to bear the repercussions of my arrival. Did you not notice that it was rewinding itself? Tock-tick, tock-tick, tock-tick."

"That's it! I couldn't figure out why it bothered me, it was ticking backwards! And then it moved!"

"Yes," he said. "But had you seen your Master-clock last night when I arrived you would have seen it speed up. It was only after I left and after the witching hour that it corrected and balanced itself."

"No wonder I was so tired this morning," Phoebe whispered.

"Apologies to you. And your sisters," he added, head bowed in what seemed to be embarrassment. "The oldest, the one you call Prudence, is asleep at her office. I gave her sleep because she would not circum to it on her own—stubborn that one is."

"Don't I know it. I guess you already know I had a nice long nap this afternoon."

"Yes," he said. "And the other sister, the potionist, slept on her feet while I prepared the useless potion…except that when she woke she mixed another dose of ingredients into the pot and created quite an explosion."

Phoebe laughed, remembering the sight of Piper covered in the black mess, what was essentially a tar bomb of her own making. "So all this time you were looking out for us. Cooking for us, making us take our naps…"

"You will need all the strength you possess as the Charmed Ones to fend off Mother.

And you will need my help as well—what little help I can give."

4.3

xXx

"Wait, wait. Who is 'Mother'?" This was the part she dreaded asking about.

"Our mother, the Queen, she who made us all."

Phoebe tried to make sense of what O'zeph was telling her. "The Queen of the Aox?"

"Yes."

"And she just up and turned dark?" Phoebe asked

O'zeph sighed. "We are entering a new age. What your science has not realized yet is that time is a continuous loop that is constantly expanding, like a rubberband, and though we travel forever in that loop, we are traveling outward so that we are living in different space, a different dimension."

Phoebe squinted. "I'm trying to understand."

O'zeph nodded. "What you can understand is our Mother has not taken this new dimension very well. First, she became restless, then spiteful, until now she is delusional. She rants that the offspring of the Charmed Ones will give birth to our demise."

"And you don't believe that…" She wanted some sort of confirmation.

"What I fear is a self-fulfilling prophesy. Even now the events are unfolding and being recorded in the halls of time. Humans fear us and we've done nothing to alleviate that fear, but most importantly, our Mother has gone mad and is intent on destroying the Charmed Ones…unless we interfere and make a stand, your children and grandchildren will always perceive us as a threat."

"So why are you helping us?"

"Because we are not like her now. We know deep down in our light-filled bodies that it is not right. We want to return to balance or perish. I represent the all of us, forever outside the Mother."

Phoebe covered her eyes with her hands. "My head is pulsing." She took a deep breath. "Is she coming tonight?"

"Nothing is certain, mind you, but we believe she'll come for you tomorrow at midnight. That date has significance to us."

Phoebe looked at her wristwatch. 7:10 p.m. But it felt so much later…

"Piper and Prue?" She needed to know her sisters were safe.

"Just now waking up from a sleep in Piper's car in the parking garage," he told her.

Phoebe shook her head. "No way. It's only 7:15."

O'zeph's lips twitched, almost a smile. "7:15 our time, 11:15 their time. Which means you need to seek sleep. When they arrive home, time will collapse upon itself and it will become their time. 11:30."

Phoebe huffed. "Whatever."

O'zeph stood up from the table. "Before you retire, may I ask a favor?"

"Sure. What?"

"I must retire as well. May I leave my body on your sofa for the night?"

Phoebe looked to the wizened old man. Red eyes and wrinkles, and now it was hard to believe she was ever frightened of him. He seemed more like a Great-Great Grandfather to her now. She reached out and lightly squeezed his arm. "I'll get you an extra pillow and blanket."

"Don't bother, those won't be necessary," he told her curiously

"O'zeph, if you're going to sleep on my sofa, I'm going to be a good hostess."

"My Phoebe, you are an excellent hostess. But I must go home to my realm and rest. What I am asking is to park my body on your sofa for the night. It hardly needs the comfort of pillows or blankets."

Phoebe pursed her lips. The strangeness of her new life as a supernatural being was never-ending. She clamped her hands together. "Park away."

After saying her goodnight to O'zeph, she climbed the stairs. Mid-way up the staircase she had a fit of laughter. Oh, yeah, he was like the great-great grandfather she never had a chance to meet. But wouldn't he scare the bejesus out Piper and Prue when they came home. She ran to change into her pajamas; she'd decided to watch the scene from the dark of the stairs.


	5. Chapter 6

5

xXx

Phoebe scrambled through her dresser drawer and chose a dark blue satin pajama set. She quickly changed and went back down to the living room, tip-toeing over to the sofa where O'zeph's body rested. It looked like something out of a wax museum, frozen into no expression at all. But what shocked her was that his red eyes were wide open and staring up to the ceiling, as if he found something amazing up there. Funny, she thought, the eyes were sort of vacant; the intelligence that had crackled when they had talked earlier was gone.

The robe was pulled tightly together and the sash tied. With his hands folded neatly across his chest and almost hidden in the long sleeves of his robe, Phoebe could barely see something glimmering underneath his palm.

Slowly, Phoebe reached out and lifted his hand. The glimmering object was a ring, gold and wide, with a large square jewel that looked like an amethyst in the center setting. Flowing scrolls and strange hieroglyphics were engraved in the gold to the sides of the amethyst- colored jewel. She paused for a moment, but then the curiosity got the best of her and she took and held the ring up to the lamp light to get a better look at it.

Instantly a premonition rocked her. Visions of white light that she had to shield her eyes from they were so bright. They were whispering among one another, a great sense of urgency, and she heard over and over again: Save the Charmed Ones! The Charmed Ones must be saved! Along with the harmonious chant of: O'zeph! O'zeph! O'zeph!

But then the premonition took a different scene. An elderly woman with dark sunglasses, very polished and sophisticated, was walking out of a jewelry store. She clutched her large handbag tightly to her side as she walked down the sidewalk. At the street corner she stopped and gazed up at the green traffic light. It was then that she lifted her sunglasses and flashed her red eyes, turning the traffic light red. Cars screeched to a halt, horns blared. Calmly, she lowered her sunglasses back into place and walked into the road. When she was halfway across, she stopped suddenly and spun around, as if searching for something or someone that wasn't there. But then she turned once more so that she was right in front of Phoebe, and she lifted her hand to remove the sunglasses.

A jolt went through Phoebe and she instinctively dropped the ring to the floor, ending the vision. _She saw me_. For a moment Phoebe stood dazed. No one had ever looked back at her from inside a premonition before—how creepy. _That's what you get, Phebes, for meddling with things that don't belong to you_. And with that she crouched down on the floor to look for O'zeph's ring.

It had rolled beneath the sofa. Phoebe reached over to get it but then stopped; she didn't want to touch the ring again and open herself up to another vision—or allow the woman to see her again. It was the Mother, that she was certain. Inside the premonition Phoebe had sensed the woman's darkness, a raging determination. And in the last few seconds of the vision, Phoebe was sure the woman was challenging her.

Phoebe went to the downstairs bathroom and returned with a hand towel. Covering the ring with the towel, she scooped it up and put it back underneath O'zeph's folded hands.

_No more visions tonight, please. _

She stood over O'zeph's body for a moment thinking over the conversation they'd had earlier that night. His had put his whole way of life in jeopardy to come here and help them. Peace or perish. War was not an option to him or the majority of the Aox.

If O'zeph were a human, that alone would make him a saint.

Phoebe sighed. Before leaving his side, she kissed the tips of her fingers and touched them to his cheek. _Rest well_, she whispered. Then she turned and climbed the stairs, stopping half way up to sit down and wait for her sisters to come home. Her wristwatch read 7:20, still in twilight-weird-time. She leaned her head back against the wall and dozed off.

xXx

Phoebe woke as keys clattered and the front door was pushed open. She had turned all the lights off in the house except for the dim light of the lamp beside the sofa.

"She must already be in bed." Phoebe heard Prue say.

"We should go check on her," Piper said. "Although I don't know how we're going to explain falling dead asleep for three hours…"

Footsteps tapped through the foyer, and then Phoebe could see them entering the living room, as of yet still oblivious to the figure on the sofa, peeling their coats off and hanging them on the hooks, whispering softly and yawning.

But then Prue practically sprawled onto the figure on the sofa, stumbling and catching herself with the arm of the sofa, just inched from O'zeph's upturned eyes. "Oh!" She drew a sharp intake of breath and grabbed for Piper's arm.

"What's the matter?" Piper asked, still unaware that they weren't alone.

For a moment Prue couldn't speak, she just pointed to the sofa making mewing sounds while covering her mouth with her hands.

And Phoebe, still in the shadows and a part of the shadows with her midnight-colored pajamas, couldn't contain herself any longer. She eased down the stairs to stand on the landing.

"Oh my God!" Piper screeched.

"Is it dead?" asked Prue. "It died on the _sofa_?"

Phoebe thought this was the perfect moment to unveil. "I had a guest after you left," she said, startling her sisters with her dark silhouette on the stairs.

Piper stared at the body on the sofa and then back to Phoebe before throwing her arms in the air in celebration, "Woo-hoo! Yes!—My potion worked!"

"Not exactly," Phoebe said as she descended the remaining steps into the living room.


	6. Chapter 7

6

xXx

"So let me get this straight," Prue said after Phoebe had related all that had occurred that night. "The Aox that paid us a visit last night is on our side, while the Mother or the Queen is bent on our destruction…in the meantime, our protection potion is a farce and she's coming for us in less than twelve hours."

Phoebe leaned her head back in the arm chair and yawned. "His name is O'zeph. And yes, that pretty much covers everything. The important stuff, at least."

Piper put her hand on her hip. "Phoebe? Tell us again why this better…because I still don't get it."

"For the umpteenth time, O'zeph is going to help us," Phoebe said irritably.

"Well, I for one think he's helped us enough," Prue looked over at the figure on the sofa. "One minute we're walking around emptying our heads of whatever we think at the time—some sort of truth spell, and the next he's putting us to sleep."

"And making our potions for us—" Piper added.

"The truth thingy is just a …symptom," Phoebe reminded them. And then to Piper: "And doesn't it make you feel a little better to know that it wasn't your fault that you blew yourself up?"

Piper stared hard at Phoebe. "Oh yeah, loads."

Phoebe stood up. "I think we should get some sleep. We're all a bit cranky tonight. Besides, you'll meet him in the morning."

"Can't wait," Prue said, making a wide arc around the sofa.

"Can't we cover him up with a blanket or something?" Piper asked, looking down at O'zeph's body.

"I told you, he doesn't need it. It's just a body—no heartbeat, no breath."

"How do you know?" Prue asked.

"I checked," Phoebe said and bit her lip.

"Good grief, I'm going to bed," Prue told them.

"He was still warm at the time…" Phoebe said, following them up the stairs.

xXx

The sisters were having breakfast the next morning when the doorbell rang.

With her coffee mug still raised to her mouth, Piper quirked an eyebrow, "He uses a doorbell now?"

Phoebe took the napkin from her lap and threw it on the table. "I'll get it," she grumbled.

In the foyer, she paused. Then she ran into the living room, grabbed the wool throw, and covered O'zeph's body. She stared at the bumpy outline; it still looked like a body covered with a blanket, but it was the best she could do for the time being.

When she opened the front door she was surprised to see Leo there, but then she remembered that he was scheduled to come over and fix a few things. Odds were that Piper had forgotten too.

"Leo!" she said loudly. "We forgot you were coming."

Leo just smiled and walked into the foyer. "Oh, is this a bad time?"

"Well…."

But then Piper was bursting through the swinging kitchen door with Prue right behind her.

"Leo…Hi…" Piper greeted him with a sheepish smile. Both Piper and Prue were glancing nervously into the living room and obviously relieved that Phoebe had covered the sofa with the throw.

"Hi, Piper. Prue. Hope I'm not too earlier."

"Oh no," Prue told him taking his arm, "Piper just made a fresh pot of coffee and you can't start work without a cup. We have scrambled eggs and toast left, too, if you're hungry."

"Uh, sure." Leo replied, smiling and answering to Piper as if there were no one else in the room.

They were going to have to remind Piper that now wasn't a good time to get all caught up and goo-goo eyed, Phoebe thought to herself. If seen, the ancient body on the sofa would be a hard thing to explain…they were going to have to keep their wits about them, but damn if Piper didn't forget everything and everybody when Leo was around.

Prue tugged at Leo's arm, breaking the trance. "This way…"

"Oh, wait," Leo said, holding back, "I left my tool bag on the front steps."

Phoebe sprung forward. "I'll get it." But Leo was too fast for her and blocked the door. "No, no. That bag is too heavy. I had to bring extra tools today. Thanks, though." He walked backwards out through the front door.

Phoebe crossed her arms. "Handymen are so weird about their tools."

Prue hurried to the living room and tucked the loose ends of the throw

Piper looked as if she were about to cry. She looked down at herself. "Why does he always catch me in my pajamas? And I've got pillow-hair." She crossed the dining room to the wall mirror and began to finger-comb her hair.

Phoebe followed her, snapping her fingers. "Piper. Piper… We have bigger worries. There's an ancient man with red eyes on our sofa, and to the average Joe, he pretty much looks dead."

Piper closed her eyes. "My life is never going to be normal. We're…demon-magnets."

"You're what?" Leo asked, walking into the foyer.

Piper laughed nervously. "We're demon-magnets," she nodded, trying to make a save. "Things are always breaking around here or needing repair. We say that the little demons come out at night and wreck the house—so you see, we're demon-magnets."

"Well then, your little demons keep me in business," Leo smiled.

"Exactly," Piper agreed. "What would we do without you?"

Phoebe, seeing the goo-goo ga-ga coming on again, interrupted, "I'm sure Leo knows by now how much we appreciate him." She pointed to his bag, "You can put that down anywhere."

"You can bring your tools into the kitchen with you," Prue said.

"That's okay," he said, "I'll just put them in here out of the way for now," and he preceded to walk through the foyer toward the living room, leaving the sisters sputtering for lack of a way to stop him, and following along behind him.

Desperately Piper threw her hands up and froze him.

"What took you so long?" Prue asked, holding her forehead.

"Panic," Piper answered.

"We have to hurry. He's not going to stay that way for long!" Phoebe said.

But no one noticed the movement on the sofa, the throw being pushed aside. "Hello," a deep voice said and the sisters turned abruptly to see O'zeph sitting up.

"Oh, thank God," Phoebe said, relieved. "We have to get you upstairs, quick. Company," she indicated the frozen Leo.

"Oh, I see," O'zeph said. He put his hands together and a bright light radiated from between his fingers. When he separated them, a pair of dark glasses materialized, which he slipped on. "No time for that," he said even as Leo stirred, shaking his head as if in a fog.

"I can't remember what I was saying…" Leo said, looking back at the foyer and then at Piper.

"You were going to put your tools away," Piper told him.

"Oh yeah, I was," Leo said. He leaned down and put his tool bag against the wall where no one would trip over it.

"And this is our friend O'zeph," Piper introduced. "O'zeph, this is Leo. He's our handyman and an angel."

Both O'zeph and Leo looked at Piper in surprise.

"Well, you are," she said, reddening. "This house would be unlivable without you."


	7. Chapter 8

PART 2:

For Those That Believe…

7

xXx

For a moment everyone was silent. There were times in the past few months that the sisters had doubts about Leo. For one, he had shown up out of nowhere and without seemingly having a past. In fact, Leo was very vague when it came to even the most innocent questions about himself, leading Phoebe and Piper to question his motives and constantly warn Piper to be on her guard. The dark forces were always trying to pose as a friend or lover and break the Power of Three.

But of course, this was lost on Piper. And granted, each week that went by without Leo morphing into some kind of demon or warlock, was all the proof Piper needed to trust her instincts. Now, even Prue and Phoebe had relaxed their guard to an extent, trusting that Piper could tell good love from bad. Yet, none of the three sisters could deny that Leo was definitely hiding _something_.

"How about that coffee?" Phoebe asked when the silence had stretched its limit. "Piper, would you help me in the kitchen?" to which Piper gave her sister a scathing glance.

"Coffee?" O'zeph mused. "I think I would like to try that."

Leo laughed, "Try it? You've never had coffee before?"

Phoebe and her sisters looked sidelong as one another. Phoebe held her breath; this was the second test as to whether O'zeph could pass as a human. Covering those red eyes of his with dark sunglasses was one thing, but could he tackle the everyday, modern situations?

O'zeph fixed his sunglasses on Leo. "Some take vows against such things."

Leo's hand went to his head. "Ah, I should have realized…the robes and the shaved head…"

…_the broken vow of silence_…Phoebe thought to herself. But maybe all monks didn't take that vow. Though, it would be a lot less stressful if this one had.

"You should try your coffee with a dash of cream the first time around and maybe a little bit of sugar," Leo advised him. "Then try it black to get the whole coffee experience."

"Why thank you. I will," O'zeph said.

"Okay, coffee coming up," Phoebe said, and then she and Piper went to the kitchen leaving Prue to keep an eye on Leo and O'zeph.

Once behind the closed door of the kitchen, Phoebe panicked. "We've got to get rid of Leo after the coffee break," she told Piper. "We're running out of time."

Piper took down two coffee mugs and handed one to Phoebe. "I'm not getting rid of Leo—why should we get rid of Leo?—he'll be busy all morning tending to the repairs."

"And maybe overhearing us. Besides, we don't know for sure when the Mother will come, it could get dangerous. Do you want Leo to get hurt? Witness who we are? 'Cause that's not the way to start a relationship, believe me. And Piper, he's not the kind of guy who's just going to _let_ somebody come in and hurt you"

Piper shook her head.

"Then send him away, Piper. The enemy will always hurt you by hurting him and he would have no chance against someone like the Mother. You have to tell him to come back on another day."

Piper whispered, "But what if I don't see him again? What if something happens and the Aox Mother wins—"

"Stop it. Just stop it. If we think like that, she _will_ win." Phoebe hesitated. "Is that why you've been so loony since he got here?"

Piper went on as if she'd not heard a word Phoebe had said. "…and I've never even told him how I feel. We're not even to the stage where we can go out on a first date." Piper sighed. "We haven't been alone for over five minutes in this house because you and Prue are convinced he's demonic."

Phoebe denied it. Maybe at first they did shelter Piper too much, but they'd stopped playing babysitter to the two for the past month. If anything was holding them back it was their own shyness toward one another. They were so crazy about each other, and yet utterly scared to death to make the first move and tell the other. Meanwhile, they had a crazy itch for closeness: a finger brushed between coffee mugs, sitting too close on the sofa. It was so obvious to everyone _but_ them. And sometimes it was painful to watch, but always mesmerizing to see how it was sweet torture for them to be around each other and not touch. This, after all these months, would only make it sweeter when it did happen.

And Phoebe was jealous. Rotten-dirty jealous. But it was a happy- jealous, too. She was so glad for Piper. And she prayed that one day she herself would have that kind of slow crazy itch.

xXx


	8. Chapter 9

8

xXx

In the end, Phoebe gave in and compromised with Piper. Leo could stay for another hour—Prue wasn't going to like it, but oh well. Tonight she'd see the benefits of having a clear-headed Piper.

They also agreed that he should fix something upstairs and out of the way, and that Piper could have a moment to go up and spend a little time with him. This would be her chance to say what she wanted to him without any interference.

Now Phoebe was in the upstairs bath searching frantically for something to break that would be easy to repair. And non-costly. Suddenly she smiled. Unclogging a sink wouldn't be too difficult or costly. The question was what to clog it with. She opened the top drawer of the vanity. No, brushes wouldn't be good. She needed something spongy. She turned and pulled the shower curtain back and looked. Ah-ha, a couple of pairs of black tights hung to drip dry on a clothes hanger. Piper wouldn't mind loosing a pair or two of tights for the right cause, she thought, as she whipped them from the hanger.

They were harder to stuff down the drain than she thought. She finally had to use the clothes hanger to pack them down far enough for the pipe to clog. After a few minutes the water pooled in the basin and refused to drain.

It was then that she heard Piper say, "Phoebe said that there was something wrong in this bathroom up here."

And Leo's reply, "did she mention what it was?'

They were at the top of the stairs and they were coming toward the bath. Phoebe had only a matter of seconds to leave the scene of the crime.

She started to dash out, but there was the slight problem of the mangled clothes hanger in her hand. She had to get rid of the damning evidence. She stepped over into the bathtub and set the hanger down just as the bath door swung open. _Uh-oh_, she thought, closing her eyes and praying one of them didn't pull the shower curtain back, exposing her.

"Looks like you have a sink that's clogged," he told Piper. "Don't worry; I'll have it fixed in no time."

Phoebe hunkered down in the bathtub. If she could just get Piper's attention, then she could lead Leo out long enough for Phoebe to make her escape. But when she peeked around the shower curtain, they both had their backs to her, contemplating the water-filled sink. And if Phoebe did manage to snake her arm out to touch Piper, she'd be seen in the vanity mirror. Or, Piper would startle and cry out; yes, that was more likely since she was expecting to be alone with Leo.

Phoebe slumped against the tiled wall. She was stuck.

Unless something happened to draw them out, it was going to be an extended stay. _Just the three of us_, she thought absurdlyGod—Piperwas going to kill her when she found out…

"Something's really stuck down there," he told Piper. "I think I'm going to have to take the pipes apart." Phoebe listened as Leo rummage through his tool bag. "I'm going to need a bucket to drain this water into when I take the elbow joint off."

"I'm on it," Piper said, and Phoebe heard her take off down the hall.

Go with her, go with her, Phoebe mouthed silently, but of course he didn't. The sound of metal tools clinking against one another filled the bathroom, reverberating off the tiles. She really needed the power of teleportation, she decided, leaning her head back against the cool bathtub rim.

Piper returned with the bucket and Leo grunted a thanks.

Phoebe heard Piper clear her throat. "Um, Leo…"

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking…"

There was the sound of straining. Phoebe quirked an eyebrow. "Whew, this joint is really tight," he said. "Would you hand me that other wrench next to my bag?"

"Here," Piper said.

"Thanks."

"Anyway," Piper started again. "I was thinking—"

But then there was a gurgle and a splash, and Leo was thrashing trying to get out from under the sink.

Peeking around the shower curtain, Phoebe saw Leo holding his wet shirt away from his chest.

"There was a lot of backed-up water in the pipe," he explained. He smiled at Piper, "Now what were you saying?" He began peeling the wet shirt from his body, lifting it up and off, leaving only the thin white tee-shirt underneath.

Piper couldn't help but stare. "I was thinking how I like…you..your shirt."

"Yeah? Well it's okay. It's an old work shirt."

"…and I'd like to know if you'd like to come over for dinner Tuesday night? I mean…if you're free on that night. If you have plans that's okay…it's kinda short notice, I suppose…"

Leo interrupted her. "I'm free, I'm free."

"Well good then. How's seven o'clock?"

"Sounds good."

"Good."

"Good."

_Good_, Phoebe mouthed from the bathtub. _Now get out._

Phoebe peeked again. They were standing there in front of the sink looking at each other.

"Piper…"

"Hmm?

But he wasn't looking for a verbal answer and he stepped forward and took her into his arms.

xXx


	9. Chapter 10

9

xXx

Embarrassed that she'd just witnessed such a private moment, Phoebe eased back away from the shower curtain. She could still hear their ragged breath, their lips parting and coming together, but at least she wasn't watching. Still, she felt like such an intruder. It was a truly magical moment for Piper and Leo; something the sisters' powers could not conjure no matter how they might try. And it belonged only to them.

The moment came to an abrupt halt, though, when Prue called out, "Piper?"

And the breathless moan that followed as Piper pulled away, and answered in a voice shaky and half-lost, "Yeah, Prue."

Prue's footsteps thudded as she climbed the stairs. "Is Phoebe up there with you?"

Phoebe covered her head with her arms. _Not now, Prue. Couldn't you have waited one more minute?_ It wasn't just her own shame of being exposed she was thinking of, but Piper and Leo's when they realized they had not been alone.

Phoebe returned to the shower curtain out of necessity; if she was going to be busted by Prue she at least wanted to see it coming. She watched as Leo continued to work on the clogged sink as if nothing had happened, although his breathing was still deep and his hands were the slightest bit unsteady. He looked as if he were concentrating on the curved pipe he held, but his face was lit up, a new smile—one that reminded Phoebe of a man who had just found his luck.

They stood there beaming, as much as they tried to hide it, as Prue came and stood in the doorway.

"I can't find that girl anywhere," Prue said. "She's not downstairs. I thought she might be up here with you guys…but guess not." Prue seemed to sense the intimacy in the small space of the bath. Leo's shirt was still wadded on the vanity's counter. The air practically sizzled with electricity.

"Haven't seen her," Leo said, still examining the plumbing.

Prue sighed and leaned against the doorframe. "Piper, I need you downstairs. Phoebe has left us to entertain O'zeph—and we have…things to do."

Phoebe fumed behind the curtain. Once again she was made out to be Phoebe-the-irresponsible-one. She would've been downstairs the whole time if the timing hadn't been screwed up, so much for her good intentions.

"Whoa! I found the problem," Leo said, pulling a long tangle of black material from the pipe.

Prue stepped forward, her eyes squinting. "Those are my new fishnets! How did my fishnets get in there?"

Phoebe groaned silently. She wanted to go to bed; pretend this day had never happened. But of course, it was only going to get worse.

"Wait, there's something else," Leo said sheepishly, as he pulled another sopping mass of black from the pipe.

"Oh, no," Piper muttered.

Prue lifted her waterlogged fishnets from the sink basin and then let them fall back. "That's _why_ we can't find Phoebe—"

"I'm sure there's an explanation," Piper said, trying to calm Prue. "Just give her a chance."

Prue pulled her hair away from her face. "It's always something with Phoebe. And you know what?—she's going to replace both pairs." She took a deep breath. "Leo, thank you for fixing the sink, but I think we should just call it a day."

Leo was tightening the pipes he'd put back together. "I understand," he said as he put his wrench in the bag. "I'll come back later in the week to tackle the other stuff."

Prue nodded. "Yes, that would be great."

Flushing a bright red, Piper slid Leo's shirt from the vanity and draped it across her arm. "Come on, I'll walk you to the door."

Phoebe watched as Piper and Leo walked downstairs and Prue turned her attention to the mess in the sink. She stared at the mess for a long minute then lifted and examined one pair before throwing it into the waste basket. The other pair she wrung the water from and then turned to the bathtub. Phoebe held her breath.

Pulling the shower curtain back, Prue was startled to see Phoebe standing there with an exaggerated grin on her face. "Why am I not surprised?" she asked Phoebe.

But Phoebe had no time to reply. Suddenly there was a loud thud downstairs, followed by several smaller thuds, and then Piper screamed.


	10. Chapter 11

9.2

xXx

The fishnets were dropped to the floor and forgotten as Prue and Phoebe ran from the bathroom. The terror of hearing Piper scream chilled their blood. Phoebe's one thought was that the Aox Mother had arrived early, catching them unaware. However, when they reached the landing of the stairs and saw the scene before them, they gasped.

Leo was sprawled between the last few steps of the stairs and the hardwood floor with Piper and O'zeph kneeling over him. O'zeph was passing his hands in the air over Leo's body.

"Is he alright?" Piper asked fearfully. "Can you help him?"

"It depends on what you mean by help," O'zeph told her. "I am not a whitelighter, if that's what you mean. I cannot heal him. But what I _can_ do is feel where he is hurt."

Phoebe and Prue went to Piper. Putting their arm around her they asked Piper what had happened.

"We were talking as we came down the stairs and he turned to say something to me and tripped…he tumbled down the stairs with that heavy tool bag. Oh, God, he hit his head so many times…I was sure he was dead."

O'zeph shook his head. "Not dead, unconscious. Mild concussion, a neck sprain, ankle sprain, and many bruises. But he will live. We should put him in a bed for now and limit his movement. I'm afraid with his injuries he will have to stay here tonight."

"How about we call an ambulance, or we take him to the hospital," Prue said.

"My advice is he should stay here and undisturbed," O'zeph said.

Teary eyed, Piper looked to O'zeph. "But that's impossible. It won't be safe here. We have to take him someplace else."

O'zeph cocked his head. "Where child? It is a terrible idea to move him beyond this house in his condition…"

"We can take him home…" Piper said. She tucked her hand into the back pocket of Leo's jeans and took out a brown leather wallet. "His driver's license will have his address on it."

Phoebe and Prue hunched over Piper's shoulder. This was an opportunity to glimpse a side of Leo that he generally evaded, and here it was in Piper's hands.

"I do not think he would look favorably on that…" O'zeph warned.

"Oh, how would you know?" Prue snapped, "You've known him less than two hours."

O'zeph lowered his eyes. "It does not take long to recognize that he is a man who protects his privacy."

Piper ignored him and continued to flip through Leo's wallet. She began sliding cards and photos out, staring incredulously at them. "They're all fake!"

"What?" Prue and Phoebe said together.

"Look. It's the filler cards that come with the wallet when you buy it—before you replace it with your own stuff. You know, like the paper photo in a picture frame you buy at the store. It's just a brand new wallet with nothing that belongs to Leo in it…"

"How bizarre," Prue said. "No cash, no credit cards, no identification."

Piper was leafing through and tossing the filler cards to the floor in disgust.

"This doesn't look fake," Phoebe said, picking up an old sepia photograph from the discarded pile.

Piper took it from her. It was a photo of Leo in military dress, sitting up straight with shoulders squared for the unknown photographer. She turned the photo over. "Leo Wyatt, 1862," she read out loud. She paused, seeming confused. "I can't tell the difference between this Leo and my Leo—how can he look identical to an ancestor from so long ago? This is Leo. This is my Leo…" then she turned to Phoebe and Prue and cringed,

"Oh my God, what if you were right and he is a demon…demons can live forever." She covered her face with her hands. "I've been so stupid."

For the first time, O'zeph showed real emotion as his face contorted into disbelief. "No, potionist, you have it wrong. Your friend is not a demon. There is not an evil cell in his body. I would have known. I would have felt it."

Piper turned on O'zeph. "What is he hiding, then, if he's not some demon or warlock?"

Phoebe took Piper's hand into her own, "Honey, calm down. If O'zeph says—"

Piper pulled away from Phoebe and stood. "I don't care anymore. For all I know Leo was just bidding his time and he meant to destroy us. All those times I invited him into our house…" Piper held up the crumbled wallet inserts, "and he's not even real." She took a deep breath. "If he were a good guy, he would have let us know from the beginning, not made us guess from one week to the next. I'm tired of the deception."

Prue looked down on Leo as he lay unconscious. "What do you want to do with him, then?"

Piper thought for a moment. "We'll follow O'Zeph's advice and put him upstairs in one of the beds until he awakes and can move on his own. If he's a demon it won't take him long to heal himself."

O'zeph came forward and, as if Leo were nothing but a small child, lifted him up and carried him up the stairs. "Does the potionist wish me to place him on her bed?"

"No," said Piper. "Any bed _but_ mine."

xXx


	11. Chapter 12

10

xXx

"So I really messed things up," Leo sighed, gazing up at Prue's bedroom ceiling.

Phoebe leaned over from the stool she sat on and looked directly into his sad green eyes. "Yes, you have." _And once again it's me picking up all the pieces_, she thought.

He closed his eyes and grimaced. "I know you've come for answers…answers that I can't give. I wish I could. But you have to understand that it's out of my hands. That means you have to trust me. I care about Piper. A lot. From the very beginning."

"I know that," Phoebe said. "Just as I know you're not evil." She pulled the stool closer to the bedside. "Piper's a different story, though. If you hide something from her, in her mind, it's deception. Not an ideal way to start a relationship, if you know what I mean."

Leo turned his head and looked sadly out the gauzy-curtained window. "I'm not even sure there can be a relationship."

Phoebe was struck with disbelief. "What? Isn't a little too late to wonder whether or not it can happen or not? It has happened. Piper's feelings are already involved, in case you haven't noticed. And you know what? I think you should be telling Piper these things instead of unburdening them to me. I came here to give you my support, and a little advice. But I can't do these things until you decide whether or not you can have a relationship with my sister."

He whispered so low, she almost didn't hear his words. "It's not up to me."

"It was up to you when you kissed her," she replied angrily as she got up from the stool and walked to the bedroom door. She stood there pressing her forehead against the cool wooden door. "I thought I could help…but whatever you need to confess has to be said to Piper first."

"I'm sorry, Phoebe. I would never hurt her on purpose."

"Better figure it out soon, Leo. After tonight, I doubt you'll be welcome in this house again."

She walked out into the upstairs hallway and as far as the staircase before turning and going back to Prue's bedroom. Maybe she had been too harsh. She knocked, but no one answered, so she eased the door open. The bed was empty. Going to the closet, Phoebe opened it and looked inside. Prue's clothes hung neatly—but no Leo…

xXx

Downstairs, Piper and Prue were sitting in the conservatory talking with O'zeph. They stopped when Phoebe came in and were now waiting on her to say something concerning Leo. But Phoebe hardly noticed. She sat down in a wicker chair, her mind preoccupied with Leo's disappearance. She'd decided not to tell her sisters what had happened. It would only cause more chaos. And suspicion.

Finally, Prue asked, "How's Leo?"

Phoebe chose her words carefully. "Oh, he's in and out."

"Hmmm," was all Piper said.

O'zeph bowed his head looking thoughtfully at his hands. "That one has a great struggle. Perhaps we could be more kind."

Piper smirked. "Unless he battles the assholes of evil on an everyday basis, like we do, I'm fresh out of kindness."

"Those are the words of a wounded ego, potionist."

"No. Those are the words of a woman scorned. And I don't want to talk about Leo anymore," Piper said coldly. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I thought you were going to help us prepare for tonight."

"The preparation is all up here," he said, tapping the side of his head with a long, bony finger. "Like me, Mother is a light being. Her physical body is of no importance. But she will try to undermine your thoughts. She will create doubt where there was none before and invade you like a parasite."

Phoebe shuddered. "How _do_ we protect ourselves?"

"With the Power of Three," he replied. "You must unite your minds as one to fend her off. She will use your worst fear against you, and so each of you will have to protect the other from the nightmare she will submerge you in."

"I don't have a worst fear," Piper said.

"Denial will not help you tonight, potionist," he told her. "In order to save your sisters you will have to face losing them."


	12. Chapter 13

Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Charmed. Characters, plot, or otherwise.

PART 3

THE MAGIC OF LEO

When Phoebe left Prue's bedroom after their talk, Leo was devastated. The only thing that hurt worse than losing Piper was hurting her. Nevermind that Piper might always believe that he was a demon…and that their love was never real. _How could she believe that?_ _How could she not be convinced what they had was real?_

Lying there on the bed, he thought of the first time he ever laid eyes on Piper Halliwell. He closed his eyes and fell through time to that day twenty years ago.

The Halliwell household was chaotic. Patti Halliwell had one daughter in first grade, another daughter barely out of diapers, and another growing rapidly in her belly. And like many women in the late stages of pregnancy, the doctor had ordered plenty of bed rest, which the energetic Patti resented. It was at this time that the White Lighter Elders sent him to watch over the three future Charmed Ones.

Leo was not unfamiliar with the Halliwell witches. He'd been the unofficial Halliwell White Lighter for untold generations. Handyman, stable hand, neighbor and friend, he had occupied all these roles through the years of protecting the witches and their offspring. Each Halliwell witch had been beautiful and powerful in her own right, and he had enjoyed watching them all grow into remarkable women.

On this particular morning he had orbed in to find Patti still in bed asleep, both arms hugging her curved belly. At eight-thirty, the oldest daughter, Prue, was already at school. But when he checked the bedroom that Prue and Piper shared, he had found it empty.

Going downstairs, he had found the middle daughter in the kitchen. She had pulled a chair up to the stove and was leaning over one of the large skillets, tears streaming down her face.

"Honey, what's wrong?" he had asked, going at once to her and lifting her into his arms.

She had made a huge effort to stifle her tears, bring up her red, blistered hand for him to see. The four year old's voice warbled as she told him that she was trying to cook breakfast for her mother and the baby. And that she wanted the baby to like her when it was born.

Leo's heart had melted. "She will," Leo had told her. "Don't you worry about that."

To which Piper had raised her huge brown eyes in surprise. "Mother says we don't know if I'm going to have a sister or a brother—but Grandma says it's going to be a girl. How do you and Grandma know?"

Leo at once realized his mistake. "Well, I think you're going to have a sister, but we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" He said as he carried her to the sink and turned the cool water on. "Here, let me see that burn," he said, taking her small hand. "This will make it feel better." And as he held her hand beneath the running water, he passed his light-filled hand over it, causing the burn to disappear.

Turning the faucet off, he asked. "Now, how does that feel?"

"Better," the tiny Piper said, amazed.

"Tell you what, why don't I help you cook breakfast? That way we can watch out for the other so we don't get burned."

"Okay," Piper said, eagerly. She paused for a second, looking down at the floor. "You don't have to hold me anymore, I'm a big girl."

Leo smiled and set her on her feet. "Yes, I know you are."

She went straight to the refrigerator and pulled on the door with all her might. She took a carton of eggs out and handed them to Leo, studying his face for a moment. "You're really nice."

Leo laughed softly. "I think you're really nice, too. I mean, going to all this trouble to cook for your mother and little baby sister—or brother."

And they had cooked eggs and bacon, toast, then arranged it on the tray and carried it upstairs, Leo standing quietly outside the bedroom door as Piper took it in to her mother.

xXx

Leo rubbed his eyes. Those memories were not so long ago to someone who had existed for centuries. But his real surprise had come barely three months ago, when he was once again assigned to the three sisters after their powers had been unbound. He had almost asked to be reassigned to another case, fearing that Prue or Piper might remember his face from those earlier years. But in the end, he didn't ask to be reassigned. And even though he arrived the same way as always, by orbing silently on the shaded lawn and showing up on the familiar front porch, ringing the familiar doorbell…he was greeted by a totally unfamiliar Piper.

His mind had gone blank. _Piper_, his mind whispered. _This is Piper_. All he could do was stare stupidly at her as she waited for him to speak. He had not expected this—this bolt of electricity that surged through him at the sight of her. He tried to recall the safe image of Piper at four years old. But the memories of Piper in her childhood years would not come to him as he gazed at her long chestnut hair, her sweeping brown eyes, her graceful neck and shoulders…_Stop it_, he told himself. _What is wrong with you?_

Piper reached her hand out as if to touch him and he found himself stumbling backwards, evading her touch.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, concerned, her brown eyes searching his face.

But Leo could not answer for the life of him, because for the first time since he could remember, he wasn't alright. And he knew then—if he hadn't known it before—that it had been a big mistake not to ask for reassignment. Never before had he felt such an attraction to a Halliwell witch. Something had changed in the course of over four hundred years. He should have trusted his instincts—he should never have come back…


	13. Chapter 14

11.2

xXx

Leo took a deep breath and scolded himself for losing his composure. It wasn't like him to act like a bumbling schoolboy; he had to get a hold of himself. He wiped at his forehead with his arm and tried to stand a little straighter. "I'm sorry, for a minute I thought I had the wrong address. This _is_ the Halliwell home, isn't it?"

"Yes," Piper said, looking at him curiously.

"My family used to do work for Patricia Halliwell, and her mother, Penny. And, well, I was in the area and thought I'd stop by to see if anything needed repairs."

"Oh…" she held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Piper. Patti was my mother. I'm afraid they're both gone now. Grams pretty recently."

"I'm sorry," Leo said immediately. He took her slender hand in his, trying to ignore the tingling sensation this brought. "They were good people. Always fair."

Piper nodded. And then, "What was your name again?"

"Leo Wyatt. The business name is Wyatt Construction and Repair. I've kind of inherited it."

"Leo…" Piper mulled over to herself. "That name does seem familiar. I must have overheard Grams talking about you."

Leo smiled. With a start, he realized he was still holding her hand, and he gently let it go.

Piper glanced at her hand; Leo wondered if she'd felt the pleasurable sensation too. She flushed and stepped back, opening the door wide, "Where are my manners? Won't you come in?"

This was what he had been waiting for, an invitation inside. He could now come and go unseen, orb in, orb out. "Thanks. I was going to see if I could trouble you for a glass of water—it's warm out today."

Once Leo was in the foyer, Piper craned her neck out and gazed down at the street. "Did you walk?"

"Yeah, I've got another job in the neighborhood. It was easier to just walk."

She shut the front door. "No wonder you're thirsty. Come on, the kitchen is back here."

And she led him through the long foyer into the kitchen, motioning him to a table in front of sun-lit windows.

"It's amazing how everything looks the same, yet different," he said, looking around.

"Yeah. Mostly it's still Grams' furniture with a few of our pieces here and there. We repainted some of the rooms. You have to do that, you know, make it yours. We just didn't want to change everything all at once."

"You like that it reminds you of your grandmother," he said. "I bet sometimes you can walk through the house and pretend she's still here…"

"Yes," she put a tall glass of water on the table in front of him, and was now looking oddly at him.

"I didn't mean to…" he sputtered.

But she shook her head. "It's okay. You just caught me off guard. Especially here, in the kitchen; I can't walk in here without expecting to see her in an apron stirring something on the stove. The truth is, I have to remind myself all the time that she's gone."

For a moment they gazed at one another, enveloped in the rawness of her thoughts spoken out loud.

But then the peel of the telephone shattered the intimate moment, and Piper smiled apologetically. "I have to get that," she said, rising from her chair. "Be right back."

Leo watched as she disappeared into the foyer, even though there was a telephone hanging on the kitchen wall next the cabinets. He wondered then, if Piper was seeing someone. She was an adult now, beautiful and gifted, no reason to suspect she _wouldn't_ be in a relationship. Besides, it wasn't exactly the kind of personal information the Elders would have armed him with. In fact, they had simply told Leo that the Charmed Ones had only recently regained their powers. No other information was given, or needed, from the Elders' point of view. As a White Lighter, he was supposed to be concerned only with their welfare as new and inexperienced witches. Their romantic relationships were not his business.

Leo stared at the kitchen telephone. _It's none of your business_. But in his mind a faceless guy talked with Piper on the other end of the phone, saying familiar things to her, making her smile and laugh…

He gripped the glass and gulped the water down. If Piper was romantically involved with a guy, it would be for the best. Maybe then he could rid himself of this insane attraction to her. That and he would limit his visible time around her. He could watch the sisters from a safe distance. Away from Piper's alluring eyes and spirit.

Leo rose from the chair, intent on leaving. He'd spent too much time already under Piper's innocent spell. He had what he'd come for, the invitation into their lives. He didn't need this close proximity to carry out his orders.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Piper said from behind him. Was there a note of disappointment in her voice, or was he imagining it?

"Thanks for the water. I didn't mean to take up so much of your time," he told her, handing her the empty glass.

"You haven't," she said shyly. "I'm glad you stopped by… I mean, I just remembered that the refrigerator has been making a strange noise. Sort of a thudding sound when it comes on and goes off. Do you think you could take a look at it while you're here?"

He started to make excuses as to why he couldn't stay, but under her hopeful gaze, he found he couldn't. What would it hurt to stay and fix the refrigerator? He would keep his distance from her after that. What could it hurt to stay in her company for just one more hour?


	14. Chapter 15

11.3

xXx

Leo pulled the refrigerator out from the wall and began looking for the problem as Piper hovered near.

"You said it makes a noise when it kicks on and off?" he asked, pulling a small flashlight from his pocket.

"Yeah, a clunk or a thud," she replied.

Leo knelt down to get better look.

"Will I be in your way if I work in here too?" Piper asked. "I have to bake a cake for tonight."

Leo smiled at her. "No, not at all."

Piper took a large bowl down from the cabinet. "So you live here in San Francisco?"

"For now. My work keeps me traveling a lot of the time. Here today, somewhere else tomorrow."

"Oh," she said. And again Leo detected a trace of disappointment in her voice.

"But you have family here, in San Francisco, right?" she asked. "A wife? Kids?"

Leo smiled to himself. "Nope, just me. How about you?"

Piper laughed self-consciously. "Me? No. No husband or kids, at least, not yet. Maybe one day." She looked into the empty bowl wistfully. "It's just me and my two sisters, Phoebe and Prue. I'm sure you'll meet them sometime or another."

No significant other, that was what Leo had read into her words and that look of longing as she stared into the bowl. In spite of himself, he was relieved, and his heart leaped erratically in his chest. _Whoa_, he reminded himself, _you're putting distance between yourself and Piper, remember?_

She went to the refrigerator. "I need to get a few things out of here, don't let me get in your way."

Leo stretched out on the kitchen floor away from the refrigerator door. "You're not in my way," he said, undoing the bolts at the bottom of the appliance. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Piper grabbed milk, butter, and a carton of eggs from inside, balancing the eggs in the crook of her arm. She reached into the refrigerator for another item and the eggs tilted dangerously to the side.

He leaned up from the floor. "Here, let me help you with that," he told her.

"That's okay, I've got it," she said, tucking yet another item beneath her chin, a strange balancing act.

Leo stood up. "I'll grab the eggs," he said, eyeing them as they tottered left and right. He grasped the egg carton and tugged. But then he realized his mistake, as Piper couldn't release the carton without unburdening the other items in her arms. He watched helplessly as the milk carton toppled to the floor along with the butter dish, and the egg carton, now a twisted mass of Styrofoam, became crunched between their bodies.

"Uh-oh," Piper breathed.

Leo stood frozen in place. The broken eggs were oozing and sliding from the carton down the front of his shirt, but all he seemed to notice was the softness of Piper pressed against him, holding the mess suspended between their bodies. For a long moment they looked at one another, so close he could see the golden specks in her brown eyes, the spatter of freckles across the bridge of her nose, tiny droplets of spilled milk on her cheeks.

Without thought, he reached up and gently wiped at the droplets, smoothing them away. His fingers lingered on her cheeks, the milk gone. It was only when glowing flickers of light suddenly appeared from his fingertips, that he pulled them away, astonished, the warnings going off in his head like a siren. That had never happened before. He looked down at Piper, but she seemed not to notice.

She smiled faintly at him, and then, looking down at the mess between them, she grinned. For the first time since the fiasco, it struck him how ridiculous they both must look, covered in milk and egg slime, holding on to one another to keep the mess from sliding to the floor and becoming a bigger mess. Leo found himself grinning, and then they were both laughing at their predicament.

Piper bit her lip. "Do you think we could waddle over to the sink? We can get rid of this—" she nudged the crushed egg carton. They walked crab-like over to the sink and deposited the carton.

"Your clothes are a mess," she told him, grabbing a dishtowel and wiping at the eggshell fragments on his shirt.

"So are yours," he said, looking at the top of her head as she went about cleaning him up.

"I can change," she said. "But I can't let you leave out like that—it looks like you had a fight with a chicken truck." She turned the facet on and wet the dishtowel.

"I'll be fine," he said, still reeling from their close encounter. He should move away, he thought; go to the other side of the room or outside for a breath of fresh air. He need to clear his head.

But Piper was wiping at his shirt again, too close, too mind-boggling close. So much for the distance he was trying to put between them, he thought, looking down into the sink at the ruined eggs.

xXx


	15. Chapter 16

Twelve

xXx

Leo smiled as he thought about that first meeting between him and Piper. It was such a surprise to him. He had always thought that being a White Lighter would be the only obsession for him. But then, while touching Piper, his fingers had lit up without his calling on the Light. And the awe and thrill it had caused! So very different than

healing…

After that day he'd found himself unable to stay away. Every time he showed up at the Halliwell house he told himself that this was the last time. It had been the last time for so many times now that he'd lost track. And he was no more able to end it than on that first day.

Many times he had decided—with good intentions—that he had to meet with the Elders and explain what had happened, how falling in love with one of the Charmed Ones had been beyond his control. Yet, here it was, over three months since he'd first knocked at their door and he couldn't put it off any longer. Everything was a mess: Piper thought he was a demon; and Phoebe and Prue both knew something was up. His cover was half-blown and it was all his fault. He'd planned the tripping accident on the staircase—it was the only way he could stay and protect the witches. But the old photo in his wallet…he should have known that would come back and bite him, somehow.

The Aox, O'zeph, had recognized him as a White Lighter from the start. And O'zeph had earned a certain amount of respect with Leo, for when the sisters had been preoccupied, he had whispered to Leo that his secret was safe with him. O'zeph had even helped him during the staircase incident by advising the sisters to put him to bed. Of course, O'zeph must have realized that there was an advantage to having a White Lighter around during the confrontation with Mother.

And that reminded him that only a few more hours remained before nightfall. If he was going to meet with the Elders, he had to do it now and get back as soon as possible. A shiver of apprehension ran through him; there was a good chance the Elders would pull Leo from the Halliwells and reassign another White Lighter. Ironic, since that was what he had originally wanted…but now, he couldn't even think of it. It would tear him apart…

Footsteps were coming down the hall; they stopped outside the door. From the rhythm of the footsteps he could tell it was Phoebe; she was coming back. Perhaps she had remembered something else to scold him about.

He took a deep breath and orbed out of the room.

Note (Or plead for help): I'm getting a message saying that I've reached my 15 document limit—is this just a glitch or am I doing something wrong? I see people with 80-something chapters, so I know I should be able to upload more chapters. Does anyone know?

Thanks,

--Anna


	16. Chapter 17

16

xXx

Leo met Gideon in the White Room, a long, mystical chamber used for private conferences between White Lighters and their Elders. He'd decided to first talk in private with Gideon as he knew Gideon would listen and advise him as to how to approach the Elders with his dilemma. Gideon greeted his protégé with kindness but confusion. "Why are you here, my son? Has something happened? –the Charmed Ones, are they alright?"

"Yes," he answered. "Actually, I'm here for a personal reason." And Leo told Gideon everything from the beginning, even confiding in him about the mysterious Light that had caused his fingers to glow—and which had nothing to do with the healing Light.

"But that is impossible, Leo. You receive the Light through me and it is only for healing. The Light would not spontaneously come without you calling upon it—and without my releasing it."

Leo shook his head. "I didn't call on the Light. It just… showed up."

Gideon was fascinated. "Let me see—" he demanded, taking Leo's hand in his own. "Take me to that moment so that I may see for my own eyes what this Light is about."

Leo hesitated. The moment Gideon wanted to gaze in on was intensely private, between Piper and himself…yet he knew he could not refuse Gideon.

Reluctantly, he replayed the kitchen scene in his mind as Gideon grasped the memory with his hand and projected it up on the walls of the White Room in large, agonizing detail.

Afterward, Gideon crossed his arms and studied Leo carefully. "That was most unusual. I don't have an answer for you right now; I wish I did." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't recall this having ever occurred in the past—but still, I must research the matter. As for Piper and yourself, the situation you find yourselves in is not so unusual; White Lighters and their charges—usually Witches—have been falling in love for eons. The problem is the Elders forbid such unions. It complicates more than just the lives of the two involved; it has far-reaching consequences."

"So you're saying the Elders will make me choose, is that it?" Leo sighed. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was what he expected to hear.

"I will speak to the other Elders on your behalf. But ultimately, you cannot divide your passions, Leo. You must be White Lighter or not."

Leo shifted forward in his seat. "But I can do both. I know I can. If you'll just let me prove it."

Gideon smiled sympathetically. "Let me give you this instance: If there came a time where you could save only one of the Charmed Ones, feeling the way you do, it would be Piper. No matter that your intuition might dictate that you save Phoebe or Prue… It would always be Piper foremost in your mind. The most important thing about being a White Lighter is that you listen to your inner voice and put it above all else. Our problem is that no one knows which sister will birth the Savior of humanity. It is a huge responsibility you are entrusted with, to protect our future through protecting the witches. One must put away these affairs of the heart; they only cloud our judgment and could jeopardize our future."

The weight of Gideon's words settled on Leo like the weight of the world. He had been thinking only of what he wanted, what he craved.

"Take some time and think about what I say to you," Gideon said. "And while you contemplate your decision, another consideration is the Light you possess—it seems to belong only to you. Perhaps you have always had the Light. Perhaps you are what we call a "Natural". Practice working with your Light, develop it, and make it stronger. Learn to harness and control it. And that being the case, you may very well play a bigger role in this future war than anyone, including the Elders, ever imagined."

xXx


	17. Chapter 18

17

xXx

The sun was beginning to set when Leo orbed back to the Halliwell manor. He reclined back on Prue's bed, his arm behind his head, thinking about what Gideon had said. It seemed that all the Elders talked about lately was the future war—some battle where the earth and the heavens would unite to fight their greatest threat. And there would be a champion, so the prophesy had said, born of a Charmed One. And all their hopes would rest on this future champion. But that was what, twenty years away?

Leo got up and restlessly paced the floor of the bedroom. He never asked for such an enormous responsibility. And Gideon had not mentioned, or even hinted, of replacing him with another White Lighter. Did they expect him to remain and passively watch as Piper went about her life…_No husband or kids, at least not yet_, he could still hear her say. But there would come a day…

A silver framed photograph on the dresser brought him to a halt. He picked it up and gazed at the close shot of the three sisters. Piper's smile drew him in; he traced her oval face with the tip of his finger, only faintly surprised this time when a brief flicker of white light passed through his fingertip. He quickly put the photograph back on the desk and covered his face with his hands. It was too much to ask of him. Too much. What had he done for fate to be so cruel?

There was a soft knock at the door. He had not heard anyone approach. For a split second he thought of orbing out, but then the door opened and O'zeph's aged face peered into the room. "Might I have a word with you, White Lighter?"

Leo nodded. "As long as you realize you're associating with the enemy."

"I know who the enemy is, White Lighter, and you are hardly that."

"I'm surprised they let you come up here," Leo said, as he sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over.

"I am checking on your _injuries_," O'zeph said, clasping his hands in front of him, piously. "I am supposed to ask about your head."

"Head's fine. Just don't ask about my heart." He hadn't meant to be so bold, obviously he wasn't thinking clearly. He glanced down at his hand, the fingertips that were once again flesh toned; no hint of the Light now.

"You went to talk to your superiors?"

Leo jerked his head around. "How could you possibly know that?"

O'zeph smiled. "We are both Light beings. It wasn't difficult to sense your departure or return—what you call 'orbing'."

"Okay, then, yes. I went and talked to my mentor."

"And you told them of your special Light?"

Leo's eyes grew wide. "What is it with you?" he couldn't help but glance at the photograph on the dresser. "No way you could've known about that."

O'zeph nodded. "Unless I saw you before I knocked, or perhaps when the potionist held your hand after you took that nasty spill down the stairs."

Suddenly panic gripped Leo. "Did anyone else—?"

"No one witnessed but me. But then, I was looking for it."

The conversation was getting stranger by the second.

Leo sighed. "I don't know why you would be looking for it in me. It's abnormal. I have no idea where it's coming from. I guess you realize by now that it's not the healing kind of Light."

O'zeph cocked his head to one side and studied Leo before answering. "It is whatever kind of Light you wish it to be, White Lighter. Did this mentor of yours not counsel you regarding your Light?"

Leo didn't answer.

O'zeph shook his head sadly. "Such secrecy has no place amongst Light beings." He came closer, standing over Leo with his considerable height. "I can show you what your Light can do, one of many things it can do. If you wish."

Leo paused. This was what Gideon should have done—why hadn't he? Was it somehow disloyal to allow O'zeph to teach him about the Light? "I don't know," he said truthfully. "I just don't know."

"It's up to you, White Lighter. There are things you desperately want to know, things only your own Light can show you." O'zeph held out his thin hand and instantly light infused it. "Touch your Light to mine and search your destiny. Don't worry, it is for your eyes only—I am only a helping tool."

Did he really want to know his fate? The one he imagined was painful enough, where he watched as Piper grew to love another, always watching, always longing for her…

But, if there was the smallest chance…

Slowly, Leo brought his hand to hover above O'zeph's. He was uncertain whether the Light would come. After all, before it had come only in connection with Piper. But then there was a tingling in his fingertips, it radiated out, engulfing his hand. And then the Light burst onto his hand! It had jumped at his request! He looked at it for what seemed an eternity, scarcely believing it belonged to him. With only his thoughts, he made the Light rise from his palm and arc over into a waterfall of silvery-white light that shimmered and glistened as it fell almost to the floor, but then darted up and back into his hand. He laughed, unable to help himself. It was so responsive to his every thought. He wrapped a beam of light into a circle, a white halo, and sent it above to the ceiling where he zipped it back and forth playfully.

O'zeph raised an eyebrow. "Don't waste too much energy on shenanigans, White Lighter."

Leo called the Halo back down to his palm and calmed his pounding heart. He closed his eyes, riding the pulse of Light within him. The most exquisite sensation flooded him as he immersed himself in the Light and recalled her face.

_Show me my fate_, he breathed.


	18. Chapter 19

18

xXx

The Light grew so bright that Leo had to shield his eyes for a moment until he could grow accustomed to it. He was still in the Halliwell house, downstairs in the living room, but things were different in a way he couldn't quite understand. The curtains in all the windows were drawn, dusty, as if no one had lived here in ages. The over-stuffed sofa was faded, spoiled from one too many water stains. The house plants that Piper had taken such tender care with were brown husks that littered the hardwood floors.

_This can't be_, he thought. But everywhere he looked was filthy with neglect, from the grimy, crooked pictures on the walls to the floor beneath his feet.

_Piper? _

Something was moving down the hall. A faint rolling sound. For a moment he held his breath, dread pounding at his ribcage. One step, then two, he commanded his feet to move closer to the sound.

"Piper?" he called, but it was little more than a hoarse whisper.

_Whomp Whomp Whomp_. Closer now. Almost in his view.

Leo took the remaining step toward the hall and the sound.

Nothing there.

But then from the corner, a child appeared, peddling a tricycle across the floor. Blond curls, cherubic face, tiny sneakered feet pushing the pedals to go faster. So intent on his path that he didn't even see Leo standing there, and so Leo crouched down and said, "Hey."

Curls waved as his small head turned around and peered at Leo. Then he smiled shyly.

Green eyes looked back at Leo. And Leo was lost for an endless second… lost in the same miniature features of himself.

"Come here," Leo coaxed. And the child climbed from his tricycle and went to him.

"Do you mind if I pick you up?" Leo asked.

But the child didn't answer; instead he made the trusting gesture of putting his arms in the air for Leo to lift him up. And when Leo lifted him from the floor, he wrapped his small arms about Leo's neck, tilting his blond head from side to side as if studying Leo's face, all the while seeming fascinated with Leo's appearance.

"What's your name?" Leo asked.

"Why-at." The child said, looking into Leo's eyes.

Leo's heart caught in his chest. If the physical likeness wasn't enough to convince him that this was his son, the name surely was.

"How old are you, Wyatt?" He asked, voice warbling with emotion.

"Almost three," he said, holding up three chubby fingers.

"That's what I thought," Leo smiled at him.

Yet something else had caught Wyatt's attention when Leo smiled. With his tiny finger he pressed Leo's cheek, into the dimple there, and then found an identical one in his own cheek. "Me too."

It was Leo's undoing. He hugged the boy to him. "Yeah, you too."

Wyatt's arms tightened about his neck as Leo stroked his curls. "Wyatt? Can you tell me where your mama is?"

Wyatt held his arm up and pointed toward the kitchen. "In there."

With Wyatt still in his arms, Leo walked slowly toward the kitchen. As he approached the entryway the stench made him cover his mouth and nose.

At first, it was the squalor that he saw. Baby bottles cluttered the countertops, some toppled and leaking milk down to the floor. Garbage seemed to be everywhere. But then, a movement in the corner. She stood there with her back to him, palms to the side of her bowed head. He almost didn't recognize her.

"Piper?"

She turned as if unsure she'd heard right, as if the voice were a phantom in her ear.

"Leo! What are you doing here? You know you can't come here—" She looked wildly around the kitchen. "If They find out you're here…" Quickly she ran forward and took Wyatt from his arms.

"Piper…what is going on?"

But she acted as though she'd not heard him. "Leave Leave. If They find out you've been here, They'll take him away. Is that what you want?"

Leo opened his mouth to protest—what, he couldn't exactly say—_the squalor; the neglect—where were Prue and Phoebe? How had he let this happen?_

The scene had upset Wyatt. His face blistered a bright red before a wail filled the kitchen.

Piper held him closer, rocking him side to side. "You promised, Leo! You promised to never come back."

He found himself walking backwards out of the kitchen. Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. Wyatt's cries followed him into the hall as he stumbled and grabbed the wall. Sweat beaded and ran down his forehead and into his eyes.

Heat, a fever, it consumed him, but then he realized it for what it was. Anger. An anger he had not felt for so long it was completely alien to him. The need to strike something was overwhelming. He brought his hand up and, with barely contained rage, demanded the Light appear. Instantly it blazed in his palm, obedient and motionless.

He clenched the Light in his fist.

"_Take me to the beginning of all this_."

xXx


	19. Chapter 20

Note: This segment was written to Chris Isaak's song "Wicked Game". Great mood music, by the way.

The world was on fire  
No one could save me but you.  
Strange what desire will make foolish people do  
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you  
And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

19

xXx

Leo went into the Light again. Once he'd stepped through, and was no longer in the Halliwell manor and that hateful vision, he began to calm. The Light washed over him, soothing him until he could think clearly and without panic. Then, it began to lure him down a winding path of stepping stones shrouded in fog so thick he could see nothing outside the pathway.

He traveled the path until the Light stopped abruptly, and would have walked into a narrow stream had he not stopped as well. Up ahead, the fog had cleared and he could see the outline of a bridge and on that bridge a shadowy shape leaning against the rail.

Leo took a few steps forward, mustering his courage. Even in the semi-darkness he knew it was her standing there on the bridge. He looked back over his shoulder at The Light; it had hung back. He was on his own again.

As he drew closer to the bridge, it started to seem familiar. He'd been here before. A park. Yes, that was it. But when he pressed to remember which park, and where, it eluded him.

When he stepped from the pathway to the wooden planks, she was still looking out over the stream. Her attention was absorbed in the ripples below and whatever was on her mind that made her bite her lip nervously.

He paused there on the bridge, not six feet away from her, and took a deep breath of courage. "Hey you," he called out, trying to sound casual, but he found he could not relax the tension in his muscles until he found what kind of reception he would get.

She turned immediately, a wide grin on her face. His heart fluttered, and in no time he'd closed the distance between them, embracing her tightly as he kissed the top of her head.

Piper squirmed and laughed. "Miss me?"

He held her out so that he could look at her and reassure himself that this was really the Piper he knew; Piper before some future tragedy struck, changing everything.

"Leo?" she asked. "Are you alright?"

He couldn't stop looking at her, couldn't stop smiling. He'd do whatever it took to keep her like this. "I'm…fine," he told her. "You just looked so pretty standing there."

She stared hard at him. "You know, don't you?"

He was puzzled, and for a split second the old fear reared up that this was a trick, that at any time everything would crumble and they would be transported back to the Halliwell manor with its sadness and decay.

"They told you—they found out somehow and told you, didn't they?"

His head was spinning. _They. Who were They_? It seemed the whole nightmare centered on _Them_.

"Oh, it's so unfair. They could have let me be the first to tell you," she said, looking out over the water again.

"Piper, I don't know what you're talking about. Just tell me."

She turned to him and leaned in. "Leo, I hope you're not pretending just to make me feel better…"

"Tell me," he pleaded. _Get it over with_.

She sighed and then half-smiled. "We're going to have a baby."

xXx


	20. Chapter 21

20

xXx

Several emotions washed over Leo all at once. Relief, of course, but also guilt. He knew about his son, having just come from the future. And he was happy about her news, he really was, but the shadow of what was to come and the different direction their lives would take loomed over him. He found that he could not deceive her.

Leo took her hand. "Piper, I have to tell you something…" And he told her of his travel from the past, mentioning very little of his previous nightmare vision at the Halliwell manor, trying carefully not to alarm her in her condition. He did, however, tell Piper that soon there was a strong chance they would take a wrong turn—and they must be on their guard not to make that mistake. It would alter everything.

Piper was attempting to understand. "So you've come to the future to warn me? Warn us?" she corrected, her hand going instinctively to her belly. And for the first time, Leo noticed the wedding band on her finger. He smoothed it with his finger. "I bet it was beautiful…our wedding."

"Oh, yeah," she smiled at him. "You'll see."

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, briefly and softly. "A little something to keep me going."

Her eyes searched his. "This has been hard on you, coming into the…future."

He didn't answer right away. He felt he shouldn't say too much—too much could be as bad as too little. "Just be careful. I'm going to try to make things right—but you have to promise me—"

"Leo," she interrupted, and inclined her head to the path where he, Leo, or rather his alternate-time self, was walking.

"I shouldn't let me see myself. I mean, he shouldn't see me." It was all too confusing.

But Piper just laughed. "I know what you mean, Silly. Of course, for me it means I have to tell you again that you're going to be a daddy…unless you want to stick around and tell yourself?"

He smiled at her humor, as he raised his hand and summoned the Light. "I love you, remember what I said." The Light was engulfing him. It was as he was leaving that he heard her say:

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. The Elders won't let anything happen to us. They are going to be so pleased to hear the news…"

xXx

_They_. Could it be that the mysterious _They _that Piper kept referring to were, in fact, the Elders? Piper's words hit him with such a force that he reeled backwards into the Light. He tried to call out to her, warn her, but by now he was far away. And another voice, faint at first, was interfering; the voice called to him, insisting on his presence. He followed.

Leo found himself disoriented, looking up at a ceiling and not knowing where he was. But then O'zeph's troubled voice, "White Lighter?" brought him to his senses.

Rising up on his elbows, Leo looked at his friend. For a moment his ragged breath wouldn't let him speak. But then his voice came rushing out, relaying everything that had occurred.

O'zeph listened, and when Leo finished, he clasped his hands together and placed them under his chin thoughtfully. "I should have prepared you better, White Lighter. This is partly my fault. The visions the Light gave you, especially the horrific one, are but different scenarios that could take place. Your fate is, and always will be, in your hands. Such is the nature of fate. However, while you were on your journey, I, too, went on a journey. It seems our fates are entwined, White Lighter."

Leo watched as O'zeph reached into the pocket of his robe and brought out a small medallion. He held it up in front of Leo. "Take this, and keep it with you always—until the danger has passed."

"What is it?" Leo asked, taking the medallion.

"A safe guard. Against those who would steal and bind your memories in order to take control of all that you love and cherish."

"My wife and son…"

O'zeph nodded. "Now you know that your fate is to protect. Not with fear, but with courage. When They find that they cannot control you through fear, They will try other means. To prevent them will take all the courage you possess."

"You're talking about the Elders, aren't you?" He desperately wanted O'zeph to confirm his suspicions. He had to know who this unknown enemy was—it was the key to unraveling this whole mess.

O'zeph paused, choosing his words carefully. "A few of the Elders. I have no names; I saw only cloaked faces. They too act out of fear, thinking that your son will be best protected by them. And they fear you, as well."

"Me?" Leo thought this ridiculous.

O'zeph smiled. "Yes. You are more powerful than you have yet to realize. To these few Elders, you will become a threat. Remember the prophesy: From a powerful Father comes a powerful Son—or should I say, from Charmed parents comes a Charmed Champion."

Leo was still unconvinced. "Piper is one of the Charmed ones…"

But O'zeph just laughed. "You rode the Light, my friend. Better than anyone I have ever seen."

Leo opened his mouth to deny it. The Light had responded to his anger; that was all. Or was it?

"No time for reflection, White Lighter. Less than an hour until midnight—and you have some explaining to do. Go talk to the potionist. While there is still time."

xXx


	21. Chapter 22

21

xXx

Leo paused at the door and turned to look at O'zeph. "I don't suppose you could slow time for me?"

O'zeph smiled. "I never had control over time. Anyway, I've been in this human body for so long now that my presence no longer affects this world."

"Thought I would try…" Leo said.

"Good luck, White Lighter."

"Yeah," Leo said, as he walked into the hall.

He found all three sisters sitting in the conservatory. The room was glowing with candlelight and the soft light of a single tiffany lamp in the far corner. Piper and Prue were sharing a magazine on the sofa while Phoebe lounged cross-ways in the wicker chair, feet dangling off the side. All three seemed to take turns glancing out the large windows into the black night.

He stood in the doorway silently watching the sisters. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say to Piper. To tell her that he was a White Lighter was forbidden, yet he owed her something.

His hand swept his hair and the movement caught Prue's eye. "Feeling better?" she asked, politely.

Phoebe cut her eyes at him and frowned.

Piper didn't lift her head from the magazine, yet he could swear that she was watching him from beneath her long bangs, though he couldn't gauge her mood

"I feel okay," he told Prue. He came forward and took a deep breath. "I was hoping to have a few minutes alone with Piper."

Piper finally looked up from the magazine and leveled her gaze at him. Prue nodded and stood up but Piper grabbed her arm. "Whatever you have to say can be said in front of my sisters. _We_ have no secrets."

It was a jab that stung. He knew he had been less than upfront with them, and to tell them that it was all for their own good probably wouldn't win him any points, so he let the comment go. "Can I just talk to you alone first?"

Piper crossed her arms. "I can't imagine what you would need to talk to me about."

Leo sighed. Evidently, nothing was going to be easy for him today. "Phoebe?" he pleaded, hoping she might help him out as she tried to earlier.

But Phoebe just shook her head. "You forget that I'm the one that had to play nursemaid to you all evening—I'm way too curious to find out how you spent your time _recovering_…"

"Wait," Piper said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Phoebe swung her legs around and faced them. "It means Leo-the-feeble was out and about. I checked the whole house and he wasn't here."

"Thanks, Phoebe," he whispered.

Piper tossed the magazine onto the coffee table in front of them. "It doesn't matter. I've decided that my life needs to be a little less complicated. I'm cleaning house, starting with the handyman."

Leo's heart fell. "You're not going to give me a chance?"

Her voice rose. "You missed that opportunity. For three months you missed that opportunity…"

He was out of options, and forbidden or not, his loyalty was to Piper. "I know, I know. I should've come to you earlier. It just isn't as easy as you think…but Piper, I can explain if you'll let me."

"I don't want you to explain," she said somewhat calmly. "I want you to leave."

xXx

Note: I'll be taking Sunday and Monday off. Sunday is my usual off day as some of you have noticed, but I have to go to the dentist on Monday and I doubt I'll feel like writing…thanks for understanding, guys.

I'll be updating on Tuesday and Wednesday, sometime between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. CST, as usual. And just so you know, Wednesday's chapter will be the conclusion to the story.

--Anna


	22. Chapter 23

22

xXx

Leo couldn't believe his ears; for the second time today Piper was kicking him out of the Halliwell house.

Phoebe hopped from the chair. "Hold on, Piper. Let's not be rash."

Piper's mouth dropped open. "Rash? We don't even know whose side he's on."

Sadly, Leo shook his head, "I'm on your side, Piper. I've always been on your side."

Phoebe was frantic. "O'zeph said he wasn't evil," she reminded her sister.

"Even so," Piper said, her voice barely above a whisper, "he should have told me himself."

Prue looked from Leo to Piper. "If that's the case, maybe we all could use a dose of honesty."

For a moment the room was quiet. It seemed to Leo as if they were all holding their breath at once, as the wind outside sudden gusted and rustled the wind chimes beyond the windowsill.

Then, Piper stood and looked up at Leo. "Do you know who we are?"

The wind was a mournful howl at the windows; it seemed to echo in his ears. The flame of the candles danced across their faces as they waited for his answer. He knew that the answer, if he was truthful, would be proof of his guilt. Yet it was inconceivable that he would lie to Piper. He couldn't, not even to save himself. And now, as she stared openly at him, the noose was tightening about his neck, making it hard to swallow.

"Yes," he said hoarsely.

Piper closed her eyes and winced. "It was your job to get close to one of us," she accused. "Me? Was I just a random opportunity that day when I answered the door?"

"No! Oh God, Piper, I wasn't supposed to fall for you. I fought it and fought it, until I couldn't fight it anymore and you were all I could think about…I can't even close my eyes without seeing your face." He was crumbling and he couldn't stop. There was so much he could tell her—if only she would stop looking at him as if he were some kind of monster.

Piper hugged her arms against herself and shuddered. "I've been through this before, Leo. Good or bad, I've seen it all before. Just as I start to trust someone, it turns ugly. I want a normal life…and maybe being who I am, that's nearly impossible. But it won't stop me from trying."

_A normal life_. From everything that he'd seen in his collision with the future, he could give her anything _but_ a normal life. A prophesized son. Enemies that would do anything to destroy their family. A husband that was no longer even a mortal man… _Far far from a normal life._

Leo's shoulders slumped. He'd lost. He'd seen the future he wanted to fight for…but now there was no reason to fight for it. It was evaporating before his very eyes. The future, he realized then, wasn't only his to choose, it was Piper's as well. And he couldn't fight for a future that he wasn't in.

He was numb, empty, as if someone had opened him up to spill onto the floor. "I understand," he said. "I'll leave as soon as the battle is over."

Until that point, Phoebe and Prue had sat uncomfortably silent through the emotional scene. But upon hearing Leo mention the battle, Prue's head snapped up. "You know about the Aox Mother?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

The sisters looked nervously at one another. The wind outside was howling again, becoming louder as it rattled the window panes like a caged beast.

Piper nodded slowly. "That leaves one more question, Leo," she said, sounding just as tired and empty as he felt. "Who are you?"

xXx

For a split second he felt the Light leap within him—it wanted to jump from his body and spin about the room for her—but he stifled it. Silly love-sick Light. He had to stay detached from her. He preferred the numb to the breath-taking pain their loss had become.

Leo looked from sister to sister. "I'm a White Lighter. Think of me as a guide, or a guardian."

They were puzzled.

"Like… a Guardian Angel?" Piper asked.

And he nodded, thinking about that description, "Some think of us as that."

Phoebe and Prue stared.

And then Phoebe giggled and cupped her mouth with her hand. "You mean we have our very own Guardian Angel?" She whipped around to Piper, "And you _threw him away_?"

But Piper seemed dazed; she walked forward and then began to slowly circle him. He could feel her eyes on his back.

"No wings. We don't need them," he said, anticipating her curiosity.

Prue shrugged her shoulders, "How do you—"

But her words were carried away as one of the windows shattered and the wind pushed into the room.

Suddenly O'zeph was in the entryway. He had to shout to be heard over the roar of the wind. "She's coming!"

xXx

(Note: I know I said Wednesday would be the conclusion, but I think I underestimated. I'm now thinking it will be Friday will be the last segment. –Anna)


	23. Chapter 24

23

xXx

The wind gave one more ferocious wail, and then fell quiet. There was only a lingering breeze as it departed, and then it was still. They startled as the musical tone of the Grandfather clock began to tell the hour. They listened as it chimed three, then four, five…

The sisters crowded in shoulder to shoulder, Leo to their back. O'zeph stood at Leo's left.

Eight. Nine. Ten.

"Be careful," Leo told them, though his eyes looked anxiously at Piper.

"Lock away your fear," O'zeph instructed. "She has no power over you if she can't use your fear."

Eleven.

Twelve.

And then the tap-tap-tap of footsteps was heard in the foyer, followed by the image of an odd middle-aged woman. She was removing gloves from her long claw-like fingers and glancing around the interior of the home appraising it. Leo could see large lumps on her skull through thin patches of white hair. Her face was a carved mask of eyes that were too large and a nose and mouth that were mismatched to the point of grotesque. Bones of different sizes, some crooked, bulged from beneath a purple robe. It was the creation of a body by a creature that had no great love for the human form; made in a fit of madness.

"That's her—the woman from my premonition," Phoebe told them. "But she wasn't so…messed up then."

O'zeph whispered, "A body that reflects her state of mind."

The Aox Mother lumbered toward them, then stopped. "O'zeph, my child," her mouth wavered in what seemed like slow-motion, "bring them to me and all will be forgiven."

O'zeph didn't move. "We've left you, Mother. I no longer serve you, nor do my brothers. If you come back with me now, and forget this crime against the Charmed Ones, we will help to restore you to the gentle being you once were." He lifted his hand, in silent plea to the Aox Mother.

"You leave me?" She laughed hideously. "What is The Law, O'zeph?"

O'zeph closed his eyes. "Separation brings death."

"Bring them to me," She demanded.

But O'zeph stood his ground.

"Leave him alone," Phoebe said loudly. And she took Prue and Piper's hand so that they made a protective circle about O'zeph with outstretched arms.

Leo put his hand on the ancient man's shoulder in support. For a moment, they huddled there surrounding O'zeph, hoping for a standoff. But then O'zeph's shoulders and chest began to shake and shiver, droplets of light began to flee his body and drift to the Mother. Impulsively, Leo tried to hold his hands over O'zeph's chest as if the fleeing light came from a wound. But O'zeph's life-light just passed through Leo's hands as Leo watched helplessly. O'zeph suddenly slumped against Leo, weak and no longer able to stand.

"Stop it!" Phoebe yelled; she broke free from her sisters and ran toward the Aox Mother.

"Phoebe!" Piper and Prue screamed after her.

But it was what the Mother was waiting for, and in an instant all three sisters were gripped in paralyzing horror, gasping for breath like fish out of water.

Quickly, Leo guided O'zeph to the sofa.

O'zeph strained to speak. "Help them…White Lighter." But Leo was already springing into action. His Light was burning inside him, barely containable; it had ignited upon seeing the sisters in trouble and it was within an inch from exploding from his body. He realized he must focus the Light before he set it free upon the Aox Mother.

Mentally, Leo collected the strength of the Light to his palm, but then he almost lost control of it when Piper suddenly went limp. She levitated there, several feet off the floor, head thrown back and eyes closed.

Leo's roar was primal as he released the Light. It rocketed from his hand, his arm, knocking him backwards. He staggered, trying to maintain his balance.

The Aox Mother screamed as she countered Leo's Light with her own. The two bolts of light crashed into one another and then locked in a strange battle of push in which each tried to gain ground and overcome the other. From the corner of his eye, first Leo saw Prue stir, and then Phoebe. His battle with the Mother was weakening her hold over the sisters. And then his heart jumped in his chest when Piper opened her eyes and took a gulp of breath. Phoebe and Prue pulled Piper down until her feet were on the floor, and supported her weight when she was too weak to stand.

The three sisters linked arms and chanted:

The Power of Three

Shall set us Free

No Fear shall ever quell

The Power of a Halliwell

The house shook as if in the midst of an earthquake. The Aox Mother screamed, and then the bolt of light that still battled with Leo's Light, fell away. For a second she swayed on her feet, disoriented, her grotesque head flopping from side to side as if too heavy to hold up. But then fissures of light split her flesh apart creating a great implosion. As he watched, Leo thought that it was like a bright and unworldly mirror shattering into itself.

"Piper!" Phoebe cried. And Leo's head snapped around to where Piper had collapsed to the floor. O'zeph was crawling to her as Prue and Phoebe knelt to her side.

xXx

"Her heartbeat is fading, White Lighter!" O'zeph said as he touched the side of Piper's neck. "Be quick about it!"

On his knees, Leo's Light-filled hand hovered over Piper's chest. The Light was searching for Piper, her essence, her spirit. Searching and searching—where was she? The Light reached further into Piper, diving and surfacing, diving and surfacing. Leo was panicking. Her voice was echoing in his head from earlier: _I want a normal life_. _Nearly impossible…Won't stop me from trying…_

"She's slipping away, White Lighter…You must open the gate all the way!"

Leo clenched his jaw. _I won't lose you—I won't._ His chest was on fire; he felt as if he were splitting into as more and more of the Light flowed through to his hands, until it was spilling over and casting its brightness throughout the room. It carried her name with it, _Piper…Piper_…a hushed whisper that filled his ears. And still the Light kept coming from some unknown place…

…and suddenly he was swept up and riding the Light.

He was no longer in the Halliwell house. Or on Earth. Traveling so fast that he had to close his eyes, he clung to the Light, trusting it. He was brushing past things he could not see in the darkness—yet they felt familiar…and comforting.

The reckless pace the Light was traveling began to slow. She was near; every Light-filled cell in his body told him so. And then she was there before him, a drifting and confused spirit.

He wrapped the Light around her and took her back home.

xXx

For the longest time after opening her eyes, she didn't speak. She simply stared up at him.

He smiled.

She blinked in disbelief, "You _are_ an angel."

"Yes, thank God," Phoebe said, shaking with relief.

"It's good to have you back, potionist." O'zeph said, patting her hand.

Prue lifted Piper's head to place a pillow underneath. "Yeah, I thought we'd lost you…"

"For a few minutes, you did." Then she looked up at Leo, "I owe you my life," Piper said. "After everything I said to you…"

He shook his head. "Piper…" he sighed, "you don't owe me anything; I'm your White Lighter." But then he paused, and considered. "Although, I _would_ like to keep our dinner date."

She grinned. "I'd like that."

End

xXx

Note: A huge Thank You goes out to everyone who followed the story to The End. This was my first fanfic and a learning experience. There _are_ flaws in the story—I started out writing to a younger audience but couldn't sustain that voice, and I was afraid that I had lost that younger crowd. But surprisingly, most kept up with the story anyway.

Also, writing a segment every day doesn't leave much room for revisions—it's a crazy pace. So thank you for overlooking the mistakes.

And yes, I did take certain liberties with Leo's character. To me, angels are timeless, ageless creatures. And I wanted to explore Leo's Light and have it mean more than maybe what the show allowed. I'm sorry if that offended anyone.

--Anna


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